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US government agrees to confer ‘minority’ status on Jewish-owned businesses

January 16, 2025 - from JNS:

"Jews make up about 2.4% of the American population, per some estimates. A new memorandum of understanding ensures that the U.S. Commerce Department will consider entities owned by Jews to be 'minority business enterprises.'

"The Orthodox chamber and the Minority Business Development Agency, which is part of the Commerce Department, signed the agreement on Monday in Washington during a ceremony attended by Don Graves, the outgoing deputy commerce secretary, and by Jewish business owners and leaders and politicians.

"As part of the agreement, the federal government is creating a new application to become certified as a minority business enterprise. The details are being finalized, but the application will no longer ask applicants to list their specific minority background. Instead, verification will be done during the certification process.

"It is unclear at this time how the government will verify if an applicant is Jewish.

"The agreement will give Jewish-owned businesses greater public awareness through federal initiatives and potential invitations to workshops, seminars, conferences and other educational opportunities."