By Ben Lockridge / staff writer
At a press conference on Friday at Union Station the Mississippi Development Authority announced it would partner with the East Mississippi Business Development Corp. and have a local office in Meridian.
"The MDA will be here with the EMBDC, housed into our offices," said Wade Jones, president of the EMBDC said. "We will work directly with them making sure locals can own businesses."
The MDA brings with them the Mississippi Procurement Technical Assistance Network, a program that brings millions of dollars in federal, state and local government contracting opportunities to Mississippi businesses every year.
"We have four centers located within the state," said project manager, Carol Harris. "We are heavily focused on growing our small businesses in the state of Mississippi."
The program is funded by an agreement grant from the U.S. Department of Defense with funds that are matched by the State of Mississippi, counties, municipalities and private organizations. In other words, the program is free for Mississippi businesses.
"With approximately 2,000 federal purchasing offices located throughout the United States and more than 1,000 state and local government purchasing offices located throughout Mississippi, it is virtually impossible for your business to market itself to these potential buyers without the assistance provided by a 'Value Added Partner' such as the Mississippi Procurement Technical Assistance Network," Harris said.
For more information or to enroll in the program, visit www.mscpc.com to apply.
