First Ever TN Minority Business Development Center Opens in Memphis; Hinson Acknowledges Cohen for Being Persistent, Persuasive and Professional

MEMPHIS, TN – Today, Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9) welcomed David Hinson, Director of the federal Minority Business Development Agency to Memphis for the ribbon cutting ceremony for Tennessee’s first ever Minority Development Business Center, located in downtown Memphis. Joining Congressman Cohen in welcoming Director Hinson was Luke Yancey, President & CEO of The MMBC Continuum and Beverly Goines, the executive director of the new center.

Director Hinson praised Congressman Cohen’s three year effort to bring the Minority Business Development Center to Memphis, stating, “Congressman Cohen was persistent, persuasive and professional.”

“The Memphis Minority Business Development Center will provide a hand up—not a hand out—to women and minority businesses,” said Congressman Cohen. “It’s been a continuing three year effort to bring this center to Memphis, the first ever in Tennessee, and I’m pleased today to see it open here. The Memphis Minority Business Development Center will help to expand opportunities for contracting, workforce development and counseling. African American communities have been disproportionally hurt by the recession and sub-prime loans. This center will help minorities by providing them the resources they need to help grow our economy and will be one of the keys to Memphis’s economic future.”

The MBDA is part of the U.S. Department of Commerce and the only federal agency created specifically to foster the establishment and growth of minority-owned businesses in America. The primary drivers of the MBDA Business Center program are job creation and retention and the award of procurement/contract and financial transactions to minority business enterprises (MBEs).

The purpose of MBDA Business Centers is to provide strategic connections to contract opportunities and business consulting services to eligible MBEs. This program supports the Agency mission of promoting the growth and global competitiveness of U.S. businesses that are minority-owned. The MBC program is a key component of MBDA’s overall portfolio of minority business development services, focusing on helping secure large public and/or private contracts and financing transactions, stimulating job creation and retention, and facilitating entry to global markets for eligible minority-owned businesses.