Anne Arundel Businesses Owned By Women, Minorities Can Get Help

ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY, MD — The coronavirus pandemic took a toll on women- and minority-owned businesses, economic leaders said. These companies are in a unique position to recover, however, given the influx of government contracts available.

Anne Arundel County leaders want to help women- and minority-owned businesses score some of these projects, but the process is a little challenging. A Thursday webinar will help these establishments navigate the application.

Patch recently partnered with several local organizations to bring you their latest news. This guest contribution comes from the Anne Arundel Chamber of Commerce. Here's what President and CEO Mark Kleinschmidt wrote about the event:

"As the economy starts to recover from the economic slowdown caused by COVID-19, many Maryland businesses will have to re-double their efforts to make up for a lot of lost revenue over the last 15 months. The “COVID crush” impacted virtually every business[,] but it hit small businesses the hardest[,] particularly those located in economically distressed areas. In addition, businesses owned by women and minorities were also disproportionately impacted by the economic slowdown.

For many years, programs have existed to help minority owned and women owned businesses obtain work with the public sector[,] which is defined as local, state and federal government. Almost every level of government has established outreach programs to encourage minority and women owned businesses to seek out government contacts and in many [cases] have also established goals for the amount of work they receive. To participate in the procurement process for government contracts, a business must become certified as a Minority Owned Business (MBE), a Women Owned Business (WBE) or a Disadvantaged Business (DBE). The process to obtain one of these certifications can be complicated and challenging.

The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and the infrastructure investment bill currently being debated in Washington will create billions of dollars in government contracts which will translate into new opportunities for MBEs, WBEs and DBEs. Since the certification process can be confusing, the Chamber has partnered with 84 Lumber to host a special webinar that will focus on their new “Lead The Way” initiative[,] which [helps] women and minority owned businesses by guiding them through the WBE/MBE/DBE certification process and then connecting them to their government agency, contractor and customer contacts.

If you are a women or minority-owned business, join us for this FREE informative presentation on June 17 at 11am on certification benefits, the process, and how to then acquire Government contracts once certified. It is easy to attend, since we will be using ZOOM. If you would like to attend, just click here to register: Lead the Way: Women & Minority Owned Business Certification Tips & Leads - Jun 17, 2021 - Anne Arundel Chamber of Commerce

Mark Kleinschmidt is the President/CEO of the Anne Arundel Chamber of Commerce located in Annapolis, MD. "

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