The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA), mbda.gov, recently honored the professional achievements of eight leaders of minority business enterprises (MBEs). The recipients will be recognized at the National Minority Business Awards Ceremony in October in Washington, DC during National Minority Enterprise Development (MED) Week.

“During Minority Enterprise Development Week, we honor exceptional business leaders, and their contribution to a strong and healthy American economy. Minority-owned businesses (MBEs) are growing at a faster rate than non-minority owned businesses. It’s a national imperative that the U.S. continues to invest in MBEs,” says Henry Childs II, national director of Washington, DC-headquartered MBDA.

These awards, presented during National MED Week, celebrate the outstanding achievements of minority entrepreneurs, as well as the individuals and organizations that demonstrated their commitment to advancing minority business enterprises.

The 2019 National Minority Business Award recipients include:

• Minority Business Enterprise of the Year is presented to Management and Engineering Technologies International (METI). METI provides information technology and engineering support services to the federal sector and private industry throughout the U.S. and several other countries. Established in 1994, METI has a presence in more than 20 states and an international presence that spans more than 80 countries.

• Minority Construction Firm of the Year is presented to NEZ/FCI Native American, LLC. It’s a premier construction company primarily serving Native American country in the greater Southwestern U.S. The company has grown exponentially during the last four years and has employed nearly 1,200 workers through subcontracts, with approximately one third being of Native-American heritage.

• Minority Professional Services Firm of the Year is presented to MPACT Strategic Consulting. It’s an emergency management and disaster recovery firm that assists public- and private-sector organizations to prepare, respond, and recover from natural and man-made disasters. Founded in 2007, MPACT has emerged as one of the fastest-growing emergency management and disaster recovery firms in the nation with 390% growth from 2014 to 2017.

• Minority Technology Firm of the Year is presented to V-Soft Consulting. Known as an agile innovative technology services company, V-Soft has been recognized among the Top 100 fastest-growing staffing companies in North America. Today it operates in eight locations across North America, with more than 1,500 global employees.

• Access to Capital Award is presented to DreamSpring. It’s a community development organization that provides financing and support to underrepresented and undercapitalized entrepreneurs in Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Texas. DreamSpring helps bridge the credit gap that can prevent hard-working and visionary entrepreneurs from reaching their full potential and creating jobs in their communities.

• The Advocate of the Year Award is presented to Cindy Ramos-Davidson. President and CEO of the El Paso Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. She began her career with the Chamber more than 40 years ago, serving more than 20 years in a leadership role in El Paso. Ramos-Davidson’s passion for entrepreneurship and business development in the southwest border region has defined her career as a steadfast advocate for minority-, veteran- and women-owned businesses.

• Distinguished Supplier Diversity Award is presented to Ingersoll Rand. Under the leadership of Jackie LaJoie, Ingersoll Rand is building world-class programs and driving results for diversity and inclusion (D&I). Since 2013, Ingersoll Rand has spent more than $2.4 billion with minority-owned businesses. It’s committed to operating a successful and sustainable program that creates jobs for supplier partners, economic growth for local communities and customers for life for Ingersoll Rand.

• The Ronald H. Brown Leadership Award goes to Denise Burgess, president and CEO of Burgess Services, LLC, a Denver, CO-based construction management firm. The award is inspired by the late U.S. Secretary of Commerce, and recognizes an individual who’s shown exceptional leadership and achieved significant success in supporting diversity in the public or private sector. Burgess’ work in the construction community led to her appointment to the Construction Empowerment Initiative advisory board, and under her leadership certified firms expanded from 500 to more than 1,500.