Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Minority Affairs topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Commission for Minority Affairs seeks staff and technical-assistance funding to expand small-business certification
Summary
The South Carolina Commission for Minority Affairs told the Senate Finance subcommittee it needs additional field staff and a proviso for technical-assistance funds to support its new small-business contracting and certification program and continued research products.
The Transportation and Regulatory Subcommittee of the South Carolina Senate Finance Committee heard from the Commission for Minority Affairs on the agency's fiscal priorities, including a request for additional administrative coordinators and a proviso for technical-assistance funding.
Dr. DeCosta, executive director of the South Carolina Commission for Minority Affairs, told senators the agency has rebuilt since 2018 and now staffs 24 employees after addressing recommendations from prior oversight reviews. "We addressed every finding that's in this report," DeCosta said, describing staff growth and in-house research capacity that produced two statewide statistical profiles, including the first AAPI (Asian American and Pacific Islander) profile for the state.
The commission emphasized its new responsibility for the state small minority business contracting and certification program. DeCosta said the office now maintains roughly 780 businesses in its database and certified about 90 businesses in the past six months. She said the certification program was assigned two staff statewide and that the commission's budget request seeks four additional administrative coordinators so staff can meet businesses in their communities and complete required site visits.
DeCosta also requested a proviso to spend an existing carryforward sum on technical assistance for small businesses, intended to help them prepare to compete for state contracts.
Commission staff described other continuing work: producing data used by state universities and agencies, collaborating with the Office of Regulatory Staff on broadband strategic planning surveys, and publishing a "second chance" resource guide developed with the Department of Corrections and other agencies to assist people reentering communities after incarceration.
Senators praised the commission's recent work on certification and data products and offered no follow-up actions during the hearing.
The presentation was given during the committee's budget hearings and the commission asked that existing provisos remain in effect while seeking the additional coordinators and the technical-assistance proviso.
