(Baltimore, MD)—Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship Ranking Member Ben Cardin (D-Md.) today co-hosted a federal procurement fair with Baltimore City Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young at the end of Baltimore’s 2019 Minority Enterprise Development Week.

“For the past several decades, federal contracting has been one of the most reliable paths to the middle class for minorities and other underserved communities,” Ranking Member Cardin said. “I was proud to co-host today’s procurement fair with Mayor Young to give entrepreneurs in the Baltimore region an opportunity to connect with federal agencies, large prime contractors and business development resource providers.”

“With programs like the MBDA Advanced Manufacturing Center – Baltimore, Made In Baltimore, Open Works and the Regional Manufacturing Institute (RMI), we are developing talent and products in Baltimore,” said Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young. “I am grateful to Senator Cardin for his partnership and support in making this endeavor a success. Today’s procurement fair was all about providing access to our local entrepreneurs and giving them an opportunity to connect and network with business development resource providers and federal agencies. By leveling the playing field and creating programs that use equity as its foundation, we will build a better Baltimore for all.”

The fair provided minority-owned businesses in the Baltimore region an opportunity to meet with more than 20 federal agencies and large prime contractors, including the Social Security Administration, the General Services Administration, the U.S. Army, Department of Transportation, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Amazon, and Northrop Grumman. Fair participants will also be able to meet with trade groups and entrepreneurial development providers such as the HUBZone Council and the Maryland Small Business Development Center.

 

In Maryland, federal government contract spending accounts for 8 percent of the state’s GDP and has lifted thousands of families into the middle class. In the Baltimore region, the federal government spent more than $1.2 billion with 1,600 small businesses in Fiscal Year 2018.