Metropolitan School of the Arts of Alexandria, Va., recently expanded its Alexandria/Kingstowne, Va. campus to include its Academy and studio classes, upon closing its Lorton, Va. campus. Alexandria/Kingstowne MSA headquarters now provides newly renovated space for its Academy, studios and soon-to-be constructed Black Box theatre. It also welcomed four new board members, including: Jeff Lovett of Motley Fool of Alexandria, Va.; Cos Dimaggio of Tauri Group of Fairfax Station,Va.; Kusuma Aralere of Gainesville, Va.;  David Patterson of Tech Enabled Solutions in Leesburg, Va.; Jim Anderson of Fairfax Station, Va. of the Anderson Company; and Peter Van Aartrikj of the Aartrikj Company in Alexandria, Va. Go to www.metropolitanarts.org for more information.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of minority- and women-owned businesses is on the rise. There are now nearly 10 million women-owned firms in the country, which is a 2 million firm increase in the last five years. With minority-owned businesses also on the rise, they now make up over 8 percent of the firms in the country. What many people don’t realize is that for a minority- and women-owned business to succeed, they have to overcome some common challenges.

“Savvy Travelers is proud to be a certified minority-women owned enterprise,” explains Margarita Floris, co-founder and president of Savvy Travelers. “We have certainly overcome many challenges along the way, but we have learned from them, grown, and we are determined to let that work to our advantage, rather than for it to ever hold us back.”

While there are many challenges that minority- and women-owned businesses must overcome, here are five of the most common ones:

Carmello’s of Historic Manassas, Va. was nationally recognized by Trip Advisor with a Certificate of Excellence and winner of Open Table’s Diner’s Choice award. Carmello’s is owned by long-time Historic Manassas resident, Alice Pires. Go to www.carmellos.com.

Their seasonal menus serve a wide variety of American cuisine with Portuguese and Mediterranean influence. Carmello’s sources local ingredients, and uses fresh herbs from their backyard garden.

“We’re a community restaurant, a family restaurant...and our customers are what make us successful, we’re grateful for their continued support,” said Alice Pires, owner of Carmello’s of Historic Manassas, Va.