LIVE FROM MED WEEK: Opening Remarks and a Chat with Tara Construction, Inc.

It’s Nico with SBA’s Office of Communications and Public Liaison. This week I’m live blogging from the29th Annual Minority Enterprise Development (MED) Week conference in Washington, DC.

We just kicked off Wednesday’s events with opening remarks from our Administrator Karen Mills and David Hinson, National Director for the Minority Business Development Agency, and others.

                              Above: SBA Administrator Karen Mills addresses the MED Week conference

After the morning session I ran into Pedro Pirez, President of Tara Construction, a construction firm in Boston and asked him a few questions:

What does your Business do?

We’re a general construction company. We do low-income unit construction and we also do institutional construction for Harvard University. We’re also an 8(a) certified business.

What are you looking to get out of MED Week?

I’m hoping to make some contacts, especially in the federal contracting arena .  Lots of our business right now is outside of that. We’d like to expand our government contracting business as an 8(a) company.

Can you share any best practices you’ve learned for managing a small business?

You have to be constantly vigilant of everything around you.

Sponsored by the SBA and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA), MED week gives minority business owners from across the country an opportunity to learn about growing their business, accessing capital and new markets, hearing from top Administration officials, and networking with other business owners.

About the Author

My name is Nico and I'm serving as a moderator for the Community.