MBDA Announces National Award Winners in Advance of MED Week

The Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) just announced the winners of its prestigious Minority Enterprise Awards. The awardees will be formally recognized at a ceremony held at the Washington D.C. Intercontinental Hotel on Monday, Sept. 9, 2019. The awards ceremony will be the kick-off event for Minority Enterprise Week, which runs from September 8 through September 14. 

In announcing the winners, MBDA Director Henry Childs II made note of the exceptional contribution of minority-owned businesses to the American economy, saying: “Minority-owned businesses are growing at a faster rate than non-minority owned businesses. It is a national imperative that the United States continues to invest in MBEs.” 

The winners in the various categories are:

Minority Business Enterprise Awards

Management and Engineering Technologies International (METI) received the Robert J. Brown Minority Business Enterprise of the Year Award. Founded in 1994 by CEO Renard U. Johnson, METI provides information technology and engineering support services to federal government agencies and private industries across the United States and internationally. 

MEZ/FCA Native American LLC was named Minority Construction Firm of the Year. Based in the Southwest, the company serves mostly Native American areas and has employed nearly 1,200 subcontractors over the last four years, one-third of them Native American. 

Houston-based MPACT Strategic Consulting won the Minority Professional Services Firm of the Year Award. Specializing in emergency management and disaster recovery, MPACT was founded in 2007 by CEO Spurgeon Robinson. It is one of the fastest-growing companies in the emergency services and disaster management sector in the United States and ranked #1548 in the Inc 5000 for 2019. 

The Minority Tech Firm of the Year Award went to V Soft Consulting. Led by company president  Purna Veer, V-Tech provides IT staffing and engineering expertise across a wide range of industries both in the U.S. and abroad. One of the fastest-growing staffing companies in North America, it currently has over 1,500 global employees.

Champions of Minority Business Development Awards

The Access to Capital Award went to DreamSpring, a New Mexico-based nonprofit that increases access to credit for under-represented entrepreneurs in Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Texas. The 25-year old company makes small business loans of between $1,000 and $2 million. 

El Paso’s Cindy Ramos-Davidson won the Advocate of the Year Award. The president and CEO of the El Paso Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Cindy has been tirelessly advocating for small, disadvantaged businesses owned by women, minorities, and veterans of the U.S. Armed Services in the Southwest border region for nearly 40 years. 

The Distinguished Supplier Diversity Award was presented to Ingersoll Rand, a diversified manufacturing company with a long history of promoting diversity and inclusion. Led by CEO Jackie LaJoie, the company has spent over $2.4 billion with minority-owned businesses since 2013.

Individual Achievement Award

This year’s recipient of the Ronald J. Brown Leadership Award is Denise Burgess, the CEO of Burgess Services, a Denver-based construction management firm. Named for the former U.S. Secretary of Commerce, the award goes to an individual who has exhibited exceptional leadership and a successful track record in promoting inclusion and diversity in the public or private sector. Ms. Burgess leads Denver’s Construction Empowerment Initiative advisory board, which has helped increase the number of MBE certified businesses in the Denver area from 500 to 1,500 since its inception in 2006. 

Registration for the Awards Ceremony and other events taking place as part of MED Week is still open. Learn more and sign up to attend on the MED Week Home Page. 

About Us

The Carmoon Group Ltd. is a full-service insurance broker located in Hicksville, New York. Our seasoned professionals have over 20 years of experience servicing the needs of businesses across the United States. We offer comprehensive insurance programs, risk management plans and access to capital to qualified businesses. Just give us a call today to schedule your free consultation with one of our staff. Or if you prefer, reach out online and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.