Five entrepreneurs have walked away with the funding needed to help their businesses flourish. According to PR Newswire, Metropolitan Economic Development Association’s Million Dollar Challenge — the largest Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) entrepreneurial competition in the nation — has announced the winners of the fourth annual competition where five companies received $1.2 million in financial support. Metropolitan Economic Development Association ( Meda) was founded by a group of Minnesota business leaders who were looking to attack inequity within minority communities in the state. The press release states, “Meda operates a growing Community Development Fund Institution (CDFI) that provides needed capital for BIPOC businesses to become sustainable.” Since its inception, it has helped to launch more than 500 BIPOC businesses and helped with more than 23,000 Minnesota BIPOC entrepreneurs. Almost 200 businesses in the U.S. applied to participate with only 12 making...