MBDA Awards M. Gill & Associates $1.1 Million in Grants to Help Florida’s Small and Minority Businesses
MBDA Awards $1,164,354 in Cares Act and Export Supplement Grants
MIAMI – The Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) of the U.S. Department of Commerce has selected M. Gill & Associates, Inc., to launch and operate its Cares Act Funded Program in Florida, to assist small and minority businesses recover from the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The MBDA Funding also includes an Export Supplement Grant that allows M. Gill & Associates to provide services to small and minority businesses looking to develop and grow their exporting operations.
The MBDA’s National Director, David J. Byrd, has been invited to announce the Cares Act-funded project known as the MBDA COVID-19 Recovery Initiative, at the VIRTUAL LAUNCH on Wednesday, July 1, 2020 at 10:00 a.m.
The community is invited to register for this VIRTUAL WEBINAR to hear specifics on the FREE SERVICES to be provided, and to virtually meet the M. Gill Team that will be administering the program throughout the State of Florida.
Marie Gill, Founder and CEO of M. Gill & Associates, said she is proud to be a partner with the MBDA in serving small and minority businesses during this crisis. “This is a great opportunity to continue championing the cause of small, minority, women and veteran-owned businesses that are hurting across Florida,” she said. “We want to hear from, and serve, small and minority businesses in urban, rural, and agricultural communities throughout the entire state.”
The MBDA’s communique recognizes that minority communities and businesses have been negatively impacted, and continue to face enormous challenges due to COVID-19. Many of these are small businesses and sole proprietorships that now, more than ever, need access to all available resources from the federal government. “This new funding will assist us to continuously identify business challenges resulting from COVID-19, and provide advice, technical assistance, and resource referrals to businesses, as they utilize new and unique telework and social distancing strategies,” Gill said.
COVID-19 Impact Survey
Over 600 businesses have already responded to a COVID-19 Impact Survey that M. Gill & Associates is conducting throughout Florida. Based on their feedback, Gill states that her Team is assisting small and minority businesses to identify disaster-related loans and grants; helping them to identify and bid on government and commercial contracts; advising and training on COVID-19 prevention measures, teleworking programs and techniques; and helping to prepare resiliency and marketing plans to sustain their businesses during and after this pandemic.
MBDA’s Mission and Exporting Assistance
“My company’s mission is strategically aligned to the MBDA’s Mission which is “To foster the growth and global competitiveness of U.S. minority-owned firms,” Gill states. This new Export Supplemental Grant Award will enhance the ability of M. Gill & Associates to help minority businesses become export-ready, develop exporting strategies and plans, and identify foreign markets to sell their U.S. products and services.
Statewide Consulting Team
To ensure the broadest reach with the technical assistance services that the MBDA Cares Act funding provides, M. Gill has purposefully engaged other small and minority-owned firms as sub-consultants with the skills to assist in reaching out and providing the services.
The M. Gill statewide Team includes: Black Swan Events, Inc., providing training and technical assistance throughout Broward County; Janette L. Davis, CPA, providing accounting and financial management services statewide; Complete Contract Consulting, providing training and technical assistance in Palm Beach County; and 3D Strategic Management, Inc. providing training and technical assistance services in Central and Northern Florida.
The MBDA COVID-19 Recovery and Export Supplemental Programs has assembled an array of resources and expertise to enhance the services to small and minority businesses.
These resources include financing; commercial and government supply chain experts; information technology; telework and cyber security engineers; e-commerce and social media marketing gurus; international protocol; and virtual business matchmaking experts.
To register for the July 1st Launch of the MBDA COVID-19 Initiative click HERE and for more information, email: [email protected] or call 786.515.0670
