Improving the plight of small and minority businesses can be done with some “relatively easy steps in Washington,” Sen. Ben Cardin told The Examiner on Monday.
Cardin, a Maryland Democrat, made his comments after meeting with minority small-business owners in Prince George’s County.
“It reaffirmed some of my own priorities,” Cardin said, “which was to work on government procurement and to deal with some of the obstacles to small business growth.”
Cardin, a new member of the Senate Small Business Committee, said a problem for small and minority-owned businesses is government agencies’ unwillingness to seek them out.
“They are comfortable with who they are doing business with now,” Cardin said. “They don’t have the interest or the funds to go out and recruit minority businesses. That was an issue that was raised.”
Already, Cardin said, he is co-sponsoring Sen. John Kerry’s legislation to create a minority business office within the U.S. Small Business Administration. Kerry is a Massachusetts Democrat.
“I am also going to see whether I can’t establish some opportunity for fact finding to go over this issue in Congress,” Cardin said, “to come up with some legislative help to make it easier for small businesses to expand.”
Additionally, Cardin said he plans to “be an advocate for federal facilities locating in Prince George’s County and to create opportunities between businesses in Prince George’s County and international trade.”
Charlotte Duckworth, director of Prince George’s County Small Business Initiative, said the discussion also included security clearance issues, access to capital and certification.
“Some of the small businesses were concerned that there is a myriad of levels of certification — federal, state, local,” Duckworth said.
She said some business owners expressed interest in one federal certification that could be used across state lines.
