The national director of the Minority Business Development Agency arrives in Iowa today from Washington, D.C., to talk about the business climate. Ronald Langston grew up in Des Moines, and says it’s good to return to Iowa. Langston wants to talk about working with the SBA or other agencies to establish a center in Iowa for the MBDA and enhance business opportunities for entrepreneurs. Langston says for the future of Iowa development,it’s important to keep the business climate good for entrepreneurship and make sure people who want to be in business and expand existing businesses can do that. The MBDA has been told it’s getting a 20-percent increase in funding for fiscal year 2005. Langston, who’s described as the Bush administration’s “point man” for minority business, will be in Cedar Rapids Thursday visiting mayor Paul Pate and leading a roundtable discussion at the African American Historical Museum. After some time in Cedar Rapids, he’ll come on Friday to Des Moines, to visit “Creative Visions” and talk about how the economy’s hit the enterprise community hard. Langston says he hopes to return to Iowa in April and May, and says Iowa supporters are needed to establish a minority business-development office in the state. For more about the development agency and Ronald Langston’s Iowa roots, see their website at www.mbda.gov
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