As we continue to celebrate Small Business Month, the spotlight shines on the Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) firms that make up the Georgia Minority Supplier Development Council (GMSDC). More than 1,200 Georgia-based suppliers are members of the GMSDC community, including some of the largest and most successful minority owned companies in the nation. The Atlanta region has a long-established track record of providing business opportunity to small, minority and women-owned firms, ranking among the top metro regions in several key indicators of positive business climate for historically disadvantaged groups. Throughout this year, we plan to share some of the many compelling stories among our MBEs, so stay tuned. As part of our focus on suppliers throughout the month of May, it is appropriate for us to break down our GMSDC family and share a bit more detail about who these dynamic change agents are.
The number of minority businesses in the GMSDC family continues to grow annually, with more than 1,200 companies on the roster at the end of 2023. Our suppliers must undergo a rigorous certification process to join our team, and must renew their certifications annually, to ensure that we can continue to provide highly qualified options to the corporate and government partners who do business with our MBE constituents. Our steady growth annually includes a small amount of attrition – as firms are sold, acquired or close their doors – but the number of new firms seeing the value in joining our team guarantees substantial growth in our net numbers. The revenues, now in excess of $10 billion annually, transacted within our community are a testament to the synergies created through GMSDC partnerships. So, who are these companies? Glad you asked.
The GMSDC certifies firms whose owners are classified into the four major ethnic categories – African American (68%), Hispanic (10%), Asian (21%), and Native American (1%). Only the Asian MBE representation significantly outperforms its statistical percentage of the population. Our MBEs are 41% female and 59% male, with the female component increasing in small increments every year. The geographic scope of MBE business operations might surprise you, as their economic footprint ranges from Local (13%) and Regional (13%) to National (57%) and International (17%). MBEs operate in every imaginable business sector and industry, including Professional Services/Consulting (51%), Service Industries (23%), Manufacturing (7%), Logistics (7%), Construction (6%) and Real Estate (5%).
Employing nearly 50,000 individuals directly, MBEs serve as engines of job creation and community empowerment. These firms hire local talent, invest in their communities, build, rent and purchase real estate, and support neighborhood economies in numerous ways that are essential to their long-term viability. It is hard to put a value on the net contributions of Georgia MBEs to the state’s economic fortunes.
Beyond their economic impact, MBEs actively engage with their communities, participating in a myriad of social and civic endeavors that underscore their significance beyond the bottom line. They are pillars of their communities, embodying the spirit of resilience, inclusivity and progress. As we celebrate Small Business Month, let us recognize and amplify the transformative impact of MBEs, not just in Georgia but across the nation. Through unwavering support and collaboration, the GMSDC continues to pave the way for small and minority businesses to thrive, thereby enriching the fabric of our collective prosperity. In that way, these businesses are not small at all.
