INDIANAPOLIS—The Office of Minority and Women Business Development is a dedicated team in Indiana passionate about serving businesses owned by minorities, women, veterans and people with disabilities. The agency helps businesses access contract opportunities from the city, county and private sphere in Central Indiana.
On Wednesday, it will host an event to share these resources with more business owners.
According to the 2019 Annual Business Survey, in 2018 18.3% of businesses were minority-owned and about 19.9% were owned by women.
Akilah Darden, founder and president of The Darden Group, a certified minority and women-owned business, said that her certification from OMWBD gives her an opportunity to get to the table quicker.
“So, you go from a very large pool of vendors to now a set-aside pool of vendors,” she said. “It’s the cherry on top of the ice cream, right?”
Fahad Beg, interim director and title senior manager of OMWBD, says that this is a free service all taxpayers have already paid for.
