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Martin County adopts 10% minority-business participation goal for large projects
Summary
The Martin County Board of Commissioners unanimously adopted a Minority Business Enterprise Outreach Resolution and Plan on March 28, 2018, establishing a verifiable 10% participation goal for minority businesses on construction projects exceeding $300,000 (or $100,000 when state funds are used).
The Martin County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously on March 28 to adopt a Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) Outreach Resolution and a written outreach plan that sets a verifiable 10 percent participation goal for minority businesses on qualifying construction projects.
County Manager David Bone told the board the action responds to N.C.G.S. §143-128.2 and related state requirements that public entities adopt outreach goals and written procedures when projects meet statutory thresholds. Under the resolution, the 10 percent goal applies to projects whose total cost exceeds $300,000, or projects exceeding $100,000 when any North Carolina appropriations or grant funds are used.
Commissioner Ronnie Smith made the motion to adopt the resolution and the plan, and Commissioner Dempsey Bond Jr. seconded; the board approved the motion unanimously. Chairman Elmo “Butch” Lilley signed the resolution at the March 28 special session.
The adopted outreach plan requires several specific steps aimed at documenting good-faith efforts to recruit Historically Underutilized Businesses (HUBs) and other minority firms. Those steps include maintaining and distributing a solicitation list of HUBs, holding pre-bid meetings for potential bidders and interested HUB subcontractors, directly soliciting HUBs at least 10 days before bid opening, and advertising bid opportunities in local and regional media, trade publications and state HUB resources. The plan also requires contractors to submit Appendix E “MBE Documentation for Contract Payment” with each payment request so the county can monitor post-award participation.
County Manager Bone told the board the county will report the verifiable goal and participation statistics annually to the North Carolina Department of Administration’s Office for Historically Underutilized Businesses as required by statute. Commissioner Ronnie Smith said he was pleased that the county would begin tracking participation and hoped the statistics would improve. Bear Grass Mayor Charlotte Griffin, recognized during the hearing, urged the county to encourage minority contractors to complete MBE/HUB certification paperwork.
The resolution and plan were adopted as presented; the board took no additional implementing motions at the meeting. The County Manager was assigned administration responsibility for implementing the plan and ensuring required reporting.
