Staff recommends renaming Minority Business Advisory Council and merging it with Mentor‑Protege council

City staff recommended renaming the Minority Business Advisory Council (MBAC) to the Mayor's Small Business Advisory Council and consolidating it with the Mentor Protege Advisory Council to reduce overlap and better serve small businesses.

The change would combine two longstanding advisory groups that staff said pursue similar goals around procurement, training and small business development. Staff recommended filling two current MBAC vacancies with mentor‑protege participants and following the city’s standard appointment process.

Ayesha, a staff member who presented the item, provided background on both councils and the proposed change. “We want to rename the minority business advisory council to the mayor's small business advisory council because really that is the focus on all of our small businesses within the City Of Columbia,” she said. Ayesha told the committee the MBAC was established in 2013 and the Mentor Protege Advisory Council in 2012. She said the MBAC voted in April to support the renaming.

Staff said two MBAC seats are vacant and recommended filling them with mentor‑protege participants who have shown success in the program. The current MBAC chair, Karen Jenkins, was traveling and not present but staff said she supports the consolidation and rename.

Committee members asked procedural questions about next steps. Staff said the item should be referred out of the committee to the school council for further processing; staff offered to make the report that evening and to return any required actions to the committee on July 5. The item will follow the city’s normal advertising and appointment procedures; recommended appointees will be forwarded to council for final approval.

No ordinance or resolution was adopted at the meeting; staff framed the proposal as a recommendation and next‑step referral to the appropriate council process.