North Carolina HUBs gather after state office’s closure

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Owners of historically underutilized business will gather in Greensboro on Sept. 4 to discuss the closing of North Carolina’s HUB office and advocate for access to state contracts.

Owners of historically underutilized businesses will gather in Greensboro next month to talk about the future of access to state contracts.

The Sept. 10 forum at the International Civil Rights Center & Museum, titled “The HUB Office Is Gone. Now What?” focuses on the elimination of the state Office for Historically Underutilized Businesses. The state budget that became law on July 7 eliminated the office after 27 years as well as repealed statutes requiring participation goals and good faith efforts on public building projects as well as local reporting of participation data.

About 6,400 companies were certified as HUBs before the budget was signed into law.

Registration is required through Eventbrite at GoneNowWhat.Eventbrite.com by Sept. 4. Seating is limited to 200. 

“Thousands of North Carolina firms lost the one office, in existence for 27 years, that was established to assist them with state government and public sector contracting opportunities,” Gerry McCants, president of the Greensboro Business League said in a statement. 

“Most of these businesses found out about the HUB Office's elimination after the fact. No one is talking about the devastating impact this is having on our HUB and small businesses. This town hall on Sept. 10 is not a meeting about what happened, but more so about what we do next to rebuild the infrastructure, create new pathways, and ensure our HUB and small businesses are positioned to compete for public-sector opportunities.” 

Small businesses account for 99.6% of North Carolina businesses and produced 89.9% of the state's net new jobs in the most recent year measured, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration. In construction, the sector governed by the repealed statutes, small firms make up 99.3% of employers.

The forum will open with a briefing on business owner questions, such as whether HUB certification remains valid and what happens to contracts in progress. Moderated panels will follow in addition to a work session to set priorities.

Attendees will be asked to contact the governor's office and their state legislators in support of a drafted executive order that would move a newly created Small Business Enterprise office from the Department of Administration to the Department of Commerce, set a 25% small business participation goal and define good faith efforts with enforceable standards. 

Organizers also seek restoration of 12 staff positions that the budget eliminated from the HUB Office.

“This is a statewide issue, and it requires a statewide response,” said C.J. Broderick, president and CEO of the Greater Durham Black Chamber of Commerce and a member of the N.C. Coalition of Black Chambers. “Firms in Durham, Greensboro, Charlotte, Raleigh, Winston-Salem, and our rural counties are all asking the same questions, and no single chamber or county can answer them alone.

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