Brooklyn, N.Y. – Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke today welcomed the Honorable Maria Contreras-Sweet, Administrator of the Small Business Administration to Brooklyn to celebrate National Small Business Week by meeting with small business owners and discussing opportunities to support diversity in entrepreneurship .

Congresswoman Clarke and Administrator Contreras-Sweet visited Miti Miti Taperia, a restaurant whose owners have worked with government agencies and nonprofit organizations to secure low-interest loans and assistance in building their business. Their company has become renowned for offering all its workers a living wage with full benefits and a retirement plan.

“The business of Brooklyn has always been small business, as generations of people from around the world have joined this community and started small businesses in their pursuit of the American Dream. These businesses often become the foundation for a family to enter the middle class – to accumulate the resources required to send children to college, buy a home, or save for retirement. But many women and people of color who want to start a small business have been denied access to the resources necessary to succeed. Fortunately, Administrator Contreras-Sweet has demonstrated a genuine commitment to increase the participation of women and people of color in our economy as small business owners. I am certain that we will have many opportunities to work with each other in support of the small business owners of Brooklyn.”

Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke is a member of the Committee on Energy and Commerce in the House of Representatives, a member of the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade, the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, and the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, as well as the Committee on Ethics and the Committee of Small Business. She represents many neighborhoods in central and southern Brooklyn, NY which include Brownsville, Crown Heights, East Flatbush, Flatbush, Gerritsen Beach, Madison, Midwood, parts of Park Slope and Flatlands, Prospect Heights, Prospect-Lefferts Gardens, Sheepshead Bay, and Windsor Terrace.