Minority-owned firms are more likely to export.

A new report by the Minority Business Development Agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce indicates that 2.5 percent of minority-owned companies are likely to export. That's twice the 1.2 percent rate for companies not owned by minorities. The report states that minority firms have a competitive export advantage over other companies partly because of language capabilities, ancestral ties, cultural compatibility and the potential for great agility and nimbleness because of their size.

Ronald N. Langston, the agency's director, said …