President Trump's proposed budget slashes funding for a number of agencies, and one of them is the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA). He campaigned on a platform that included reducing the size of the federal government, and cutting spending is one tactic. The MBDA is slated for a $32 million spending reduction. The justification for the cut is that other federal agencies like the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) offers similar services through its small business development centers.

However, the SBA is also budgeted for a 5 percent reduction which would cascade into millions of dollars in reductions in community focused grants for small business services like education and business development. Since two-thirds of new jobs are created by small businesses, it seems paradoxical that the MBDA and SBA face such large cuts since President Trump is focused on increasing the rate of economic growth. It is also paradoxical because minority owned businesses – speci...