National ACE Receives MBDA Capital Readiness Grant to Launch SEDI Ready to Grow Program
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
[August 7, 2023]
Contact: Emily Fuder (efuder@nationalace.org)
National ACE Receives MBDA Capital Readiness Grant to Launch SEDI Ready to Grow Program
[August 7, Washington, D.C.] – Last week, Vice President Kamala Harris announced the winners of the Department of Commerce’s Capital Readiness Program. The program, which is administered by Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) is the most significant investment to support the growth of underserved businesses and entrepreneurs.
The National Asian Pacific Islander American Chamber of Commerce and Entrepreneurship (National ACE) is honored to have been awarded a Capital Readiness grant to support underserved business owners.
“With the support of the MBDA’s Capital Readiness Program, we’re excited to build on our work to support Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander entrepreneurs through our SEDI Ready To Grow Program” National ACE President and CEO, Chiling Tong said upon the Vice President’s announcement. “The investment made through the Capital Readiness program validates the importance of the contributions made to economic growth by the AANHPI business community. We’re encouraged by the ongoing, positive economic trends of the last three years as a result of crucial investments such as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the CHIPS and Science Act. These continued investments help business owners to become more successful, and generate significant opportunities for our Next Generation entrepreneurs.”
Through the SEDI Ready to Grow program, we will work to remove barriers to access to capital for nascent AANHPI entrepreneurs and other SEDI populations. SEDI Ready to Grow will establish West Coast and East Coast incubator/accelerator hubs servicing the States of California, Nevada, New York, Washington D.C., Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia. Through these hubs, AANHPI and SEDI entrepreneurs will have access to networking opportunities, Pitch Day competitions, economic roundtables and economic investment opportunities, including access to the SSBCI program.
We also wish to congratulate our partners, the CalAsian Chamber of Commerce for their Capital Readiness Grant. CalAsian is a crucial leader in the effort to remove barriers to growth for the AANHPI small business community.
With today’s Capital Readiness announcement and today’s strong jobs report, it’s clear that the Biden-Harris Administration is strongly committed to growing an economy that fuels entrepreneurial growth. This investment will build on efforts to direct resources into underserved communities and spur further economic growth, business development and job creation.
We commend the leadership of the Biden-Harris Administration, the Department of Commerce, and Under Secretary Cravins to ensure that underserved businesses are an integral part of our economic growth.
