A series of regional economic development workshops to help small businesses, including farmers and ranchers, access capital and contract opportunities will continue in April and May.
The Path to Prosperity workshops will provide business owners with resources and tools to grow, according to an April 7 U.S. Department of Agriculture news release. The USDA, the Small Business Administration and the Federal Depository Insurance Corporation are hosting the workshops.
“These independent businesses, in rural communities, are the cornerstone of American life but many of them lack the same level of access to resources and economic development as their counterparts in larger metro areas,” Malcom Shorter, USDA’s acting assistant secretary for administration, said in the release. “USDA is committed to ensuring that small businesses of all types have the knowledge and opportunity to prosper, create jobs and stimulate their local economies.”
The first Path to Prosperity event was held April 11 at the Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Museum in Jackson, Miss., according to the release. The second workshop was April 18, at the University of Kentucky, William T. Young Library, 401 Hilltop Ave., Lexington, Ky.
The third and final workshop will be held 8 a.m.-5 p.m. ET May 2, at Albany State University, West Campus, 2400 Gillionville Road, Albany, Ga., in Student Center Ballroom C266, the release reported. Registration to attend in-person or virtually may be made online.
“The partnership and the ‘Path to Prosperity’ workshops align with the Biden-Harris administration's executive order on ‘Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government’ and show the Department’s commitment to increase access to USDA’s products and services and improve service delivery in rural and underserved communities,” the release said.
The USDA can help small businesses access capital through government contracts thanks to its procurement portfolio of more than $9 billion annually, the release said.
“Last year, 25.8% of the Department’s contracts went to small, disadvantaged businesses, surpassing our goal of 21.5%, and we plan to exceed that goal again this year,” the release said.
