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Overview of Government Affairs Per AAC Bylaws – Government Affairs – track and create legislation that is pertinent to the African American business community. Per Board Committee Overview – Government Affairs - Provides a voice for its members in economic, legislative, and political issues.
- We also need to listen to our members, educate our local, state, and federal government officials advocate on behalf of our business community.
Per Board Committee Overview – Government Affairs - Open Cincinnati
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OPEN CINCINNATI: Opportunities for Public Engagement Network The health of our small businesses is more important now than ever before. Nationally, small businesses make up half of the country’s private sector workforce and represent over 90% of all employer firms. At a time in our economy when even multi-million dollar organizations are struggling, more than ever, our small businesses need to have opportunities to compete, perform and earn additional opportunities. Small businesses are critical to the viability and recovery of our economy. It is imperative that our city administration focus on efforts that lead to a more stable economic environment for our entire region. With approximately 7,000 African American and 800 Hispanic owned businesses throughout Greater Cincinnati, the strength of our economic environment is tied to the health of these businesses. The City of Cincinnati has a SBE (Small Business Enterprise) which is supposed to be the driver for inclusion within our region. Admittedly, the city has a dismal track record of utilizing minority business in city spending. When these businesses are not included in economic activity, it hurts our economy. On June 8, 2009, OPEN Cincinnati, an action team appointed by Cincinnati Mayor Mallory and City Council, presented a tactical plan aimed to assist in bringing improvements to the City of Cincinnati’s Small Business Enterprise program that would achieve substantive participation of minority owned businesses. The plan is available below for your review. Please note: - This is not about a special minority program; it’s about jobs and business growth for a segment of our population that makes up 1 out of 2 Cincinnatians.
- The recommendation enables the SBE program to deliver what it was originally designed to do.
- A high percentage of the recommendations are budget neutral.
- The plan does not call for minority set asides. It is about creating a competitive climate so the best value proposition can be selected.
- It moves our city administration from an overreaction to the threat of law suits, toward recognizing the need to identify qualified minority owned businesses.
The Finance Committee passed the plan; and at the City Council Meeting held on June 10, 2009, the motion to adopt the recommendations was passed as well. The motion called for the following:
WE MOVE that the City Administration adopt the following recommendations of the OPEN Cincinnati Task Force for all City Departments (see the link below for the full set of recommendations): - Accountability - Increase the focus and accountability of the SBE program by increasing management accountability, external oversight, and improved tracking and reporting.
- Clarification - Clarify the program requirements and provide visible leadership within city administration.
- Improvement - Increase real opportunity for minority participation with procurement forecasting and goal setting, improved and innovative program design, and better communication to external parties (SBEs and partnering organizations).
- Outreach - Enhance the capacity of the Office of Contract Compliance and outreach effectiveness by partnering with community groups to better leverage existing assets and support staffing and compliance activity.
- Commitment - Create a portfolio of 30-180 day contract opportunities, appoint a manager to facilitate inclusion for that portfolio, and apply key elements of inclusion to increase immediate results.
The OPEN Cincinnati SBE Taskforce is a joint collaborative with the City of Cincinnati led by the African American Chamber, Urban League of Greater Cincinnati, and Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and includes the following organizations: Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber, Ellington Management, The Fortress, Inc., Institute for Entrepreneurial Thinking, Ltd., National City (now a part of PNC), South Central Ohio Minority Supplier Development Council, State Legislator Steve Driehaus Office, and Ulmer & Berne, LLP. OPEN CINCINNATI FLOWCHARTS OPEN CINCINNATI RECOMMENDATIONS Per the OPEN: Opportunities for Public Engagement Network Community Outreach Meeting discussion the City of Cincinnati - Office of Contract Compliance has provided the Small Business Enterprise (SBE) Program - 2008 Report for your information. 2008 SBE REPORT Contracting opportunities with the City of Cincinnati are now available. A Public Meeting was held at the Urban League of Greater Cincinnati on Tuesday, October 13, 2009. There was an update on the SBE Task Force Recommendations, which are currently being implemented and the City of Cincinnati released the following contract opportunities: CURRENT BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES PORTFOLIO SHORT TERM BUSINESS PORTFOLIO LONG TERM BUSINESS PORTFOLIO |
