Procurement expert R. Lynn Pingol argues that Minnesota’s small businesses are facing a perfect storm of federal shocks, from DEI restrictions to DBE rollbacks and SBA delays, landing hardest on Black, immigrant and BIPOC-owned firms with the least margin for disruption.
BIPOC Entrepreneurs
Posted inTracey’s Keepin' It Real
Capital Is Not the Problem. Access Is.
Episode 8 of Tracey’s Keepin’ It Real Podcast focuses on access to capital, helping entrepreneurs understand funding readiness, financial documentation, and alternative pathways to grow their businesses.
Posted inBlack Business Spotlight
Cornel Beard is building legacy through design
Cornel Beard, founder of Charizma Agency, built his Minneapolis-based creative studio around the idea that design should do more than look good — it should move people. Read how his journey from Army service to art school led to a culturally rooted firm helping organizations tell meaningful stories.
Posted inBusiness
MN PROMISE Act offers small businesses ‘life-changing capital’Â
The PROMISE Act has expanded. Minnesota small business owners in North and South Minneapolis and South St. Paul can now access up to $1.5 million in financing for commercial property, refinance unfair contracts, and get one-on-one business support from MEDA.
Posted inLocal & State
MEDA’s successes celebrated in these ‘exhausting times’
At its 2025 Annual Meeting, MEDA celebrated BIPOC entrepreneurs and community builders with a night of awards, bold insights, and renewed vision for economic equity in Minnesota.