Committee Mission
To assist in promoting State-wide programs and technical assistance designed to increase opportunities and promote sustainable growth for Hispanic-owned small businesses, and to highlight the vitality and contributions of Hispanic business entrepreneurs in the State; to ensure inclusion and representation of Hispanics at all levels in Maryland’s globally-competitive, 21st century workforce.
2009 Goals
- Examine the MBE outreach, promotion, and goals processes to facilitate Hispanic-owned small business certification, and formulate recommendations to improve their participation in government procurement and subcontracting.
- Work with the State to promote Hispanic-owned business to potential contractors, and promote educational opportunities that enhance Hispanic-owned businesses’ success.
- Participate in BRAC, ARRA, and similar advisory groups and promote the inclusion of Hispanics on boards, commissions that review and provide feedback on contract and workforce investments.
2008 Accomplishments
- Collaborated with the Hispanic Business Conference Planning Committee to host the Seventh Annual Maryland Hispanic Business Conference, attended by over 400 Hispanic businessmen and women, community members, nonprofit leaders, service providers, state agency representatives and the Annapolis Sister City Business and Education Delegation from Jalisco, Mexico.
- Worked with the Governor’s Office for Minority Affairs to promote the State of Maryland’s policy for inclusion of minority small businesses in procurements. Assisted in the deployment of the EMPRESA program, which provided Spanish language seminars on how to provide services under contract to the State of Maryland.
- Ensured representation of Hispanic-owned small businesses on the BRAC Advisory Board, and inclusion of Hispanic-owned small businesses in meetings with Prime Contractors.
- Identified and recommended Hispanic representatives to the Minority Business Enterprise Advisory Council and keep reviewing and identifying improvements in the MBE Certification process.
- Partnered with the Hispanic Chambers of Commerce to host the Business Legislative Reception during the General Assembly’s Legislative Session in Annapolis.
Overview
As demonstrated by the Governor’s Workforce Investment Board, Maryland’s workforce is healthy and diverse helping maintain the state’s vitality even through the present national economic challenge. Hispanic-owned businesses in Maryland are primarily small businesses generating roughly 2.4 billion dollars in sales and receipts and operating an annual payroll of over 600 million dollars, according to the US Census Bureau.
Maryland continues working to strengthen and support small business, consequentially benefitting the Hispanic business community. New programs and economic shifts are expected to have a positive impact on the Hispanic business community. The American Re-investment and Recovery Act (ARRA) and the concurrent military investments in Base Realignment and Closures (BRAC), aimed at streamlining military activities, will jointly result in significant contract dollars to be spent in construction and engineering, information technology (IT), and healthcare. A significant proportion of Hispanic-owned small businesses falls within or serves these industries. Hispanic-owned small businesses within these industries will employ a diverse workforce resulting in the type of growth that contributes to the desired economic progress.
Maryland’s Department of Transportation Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) program has streamlined its certification process, which has helped bring many minority-owned small businesses to the forefront of the contract bidding and subcontract awards process. However, only 289 businesses are recorded as certified Hispanic American MBEs with the State out of a possible several thousand. While not all businesses seek certification, a much greater proportion of Hispanic businesses would be expected to participate in the program. The Economic Development Committee is working to expand opportunities in this program.
Hispanics play a major role in the state’s economy. Strongly represented with 77 percent of persons age 16 and older in the civilian labor force, Hispanics have the highest labor participation rate in Maryland. This workforce holds a significant number of stable, well-paying, and capital-intensive government direct and contractor jobs, followed by jobs in construction, seafood, agricultural, hospitality, landscaping, and other service related industries, in which Hispanics make up the largest percentage share of workers. Foreign born workers in these industries comprise 15 percent of the State’s civilian labor force. This influx of workers has helped alleviate potential labor shortages in the above key labor sectors.