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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 03-12-2024; 2 - Request to Jointly Fund a Position to Support Black, Latinx, and Refugee Owned Enterprises 1 ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: March 12, 2024 Action Agenda Item No. 2 SUBJECT: Request to Jointly Fund a Position to Support Black, Latinx, and Refugee Owned Enterprises DEPARTMENT: County Manager ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: A. Funding Request Letter Travis Myren, (919) 245-2308 B. Supplemental Information from the Chamber President PURPOSE: To discuss a request from The Chamber for a Greater Chapel Hill Carrboro to partially fund a full-time community advocate to support the growth of new and existing Black, Latinx, and refugee owned businesses and provide direction to staff on next steps. BACKGROUND: The Chamber for a Greater Chapel Hill Carrboro recently submitted a request to the County Manager's Office to jointly fund a Chamber employee to support the growth of new and existing Black, Latinx, and refugee owned businesses. Under the proposal, Orange County would contribute $30,000 per year to support the position for three years. The other funding partners would be the Town of Chapel Hill, the Town of Carrboro, and the Chamber. The Town of Chapel Hill would contribute $30,000 annually, and the Town of Carrboro would contribute $20,000 annually. Both of those commitments would be for three years. The attached request from the Chamber explains the key position responsibilities, intended outcomes, and proposed budget. The Chamber also provided supplemental information on the status of contracting with the Towns and responses to questions posed by staff. Although the County does not have a position dedicated to support Black, Latinx, and refugee owned businesses, County departments involved in economic development emphasize marketing County programs and services to non-white business owners. • The Department of Economic Development has increased marketing efforts for its small business and agriculture grant awards including several grant application presentations to EMPOWERment's cohort members attending classes at Midway Business Center. • Economic Development routinely introduces small businesses to free financial counseling services offered by Durham Tech's Small Business Center, SCORE, UNC's Small Business Technology Development Center (SBTDC), EMPOWERment, and similar providers. The Department's website includes a section titled "Minority Business Resources" that is intended to promote economic advancement of minority businesses. 2 This page can be found: https://www.orangecountync.gov/2788/Minority-Business- Resources • The Chapel Hill Orange County Visitors Bureau has built and continues to maintain several websites in support of Black, Latinx and refugee affiliated groups, to include: o www.chapelhilIdiversity.com which is designed to amplify diverse narratives; and o https://chapelhilldiversity.com/businesses/ which is a continuously updated Black Owned Businesses directory. • The County's Eno Arts Mill studio in Hillsborough serves as an art-based small businesses incubator by providing critical workspace for area artists which also has a focused marketing campaign. Currently, 43% of the County's artist-tenants are Black, Latinx, or refugee. • The Piedmont Food Processing Center offers a variety of assistance and financial assistance for incubator members. Of the current tenants, 48% are women-owned small businesses and 59% are owned by non-white individuals. • The County also provides funding to support Durham Technical Community College's Small Business Center. The Center provides free, one-on-one business counseling and a variety of business skills seminars/webinars. Of the enterprises served by the Center in Orange County, 83.3% are women-owned, 16.7% are Hispanic/Latino owned, and 63.6% of all the businesses served identify as part of a minority group. FINANCIAL IMPACT: There is no direct financial impact is associated with this discussion. The proposal asks the County to make an annual commitment of $30,000. SOCIAL JUSTICE IMPACT: The following Orange County Social Justice Goals are applicable to this item: • GOAL: FOSTER A COMMUNITY CULTURE THAT REJECTS OPPRESSION AND INEQUITY The fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race or color; religious or philosophical beliefs; sex, gender or sexual orientation; national origin or ethnic background; age; military service; disability; and familial, residential or economic status. • GOAL: ENSURE ECONOMIC SELF-SUFFICIENCY The creation and preservation of infrastructure, policies, programs and funding necessary for residents to provide shelter, food, clothing and medical care for themselves and their dependents. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT: The following Orange County Environmental Responsibility Goal impact is applicable to this item: • ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND WASTE REDUCTION Initiate policies and programs that: 1) conserve energy; 2) reduce resource consumption; 3) increase the use of recycled and renewable resources; and 4) minimize waste stream impacts on the environment. RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends that the Board discuss the Chamber's funding request and provide direction to staff on next steps. 3 104 South Estes Drive Chapel Hill, .7 C The Campaign p919.969677075 075 For a Greater Chapel Hill-Carrboro carolinachamber.org February 2, 2024 Travis Myren, Deputy County Manager Orange County 300 W Tryon St Hillsborough, NC 27278 Subject: Proposal to accelerate Black, Latinx, and refugee-owned businesses in Orange County through The Campaign for a Greater Chapel Hill-Carrboro Dear Travis, Based on the recommendations of the Big Bold Ideas Committee on Innovation and Workforce Development and feedback from the Black Business Alliance Leadership Council, The Carrboro Business Alliance Leadership Council, El Centro Hispano leadership, 70 recently-interviewed business and community leaders, and supported by recent and historic conversations with municipal leaders and local economic development professionals, we propose and request funding in the amount of $30,000 each year for FY 2024, FY 2025, and FY 2026 to support the hiring of a full-time community advocate to support the growth of new and existing Black, Latinx, and refugee-owned enterprises in the greater Carrboro-Chapel Hill region. This community advocate will serve as a navigator and connector who can identify our local BIPOC enterprises and entrepreneurs, build trusting relationships, map and connect them to resources, create strong networks, and help them navigate complex systems of small business support. Key Position Responsibilities • Create and maintain a list of local BIPOC-owned enterprises; • Conduct a needs assessment of local Black, Latinx, and refugee-owned enterprises; • Map local business-support organizations, education and training opportunities, sources of grants and capital, and other resources; • Connect and convene enterprises and identify and create collision spaces; • Staff the local Black Business Alliance and support El Centro Hispano and local refugee- support organizations; • Represent BIPOC business interest to policy leaders and decision makers; and • Establish and improve upon local BIPOC business retention and persistence rates. Key Outcomes Identify existing BIPOC enterprises and their current needs and challenges; • 400 new Black, Latinx, and refugee-owned enterprises by 2028; • Improved BIPOC business retention, growth, and persistence rates; and • Black and Hispanic per capita income growth over the next five years grows faster than the county average. 4 104 South Estes Drive Chapel Hill,NC 27514 The Campaign p 919.967.7075 For a Greater Chapel Hill-Carrboro carolinachamber.org To support this new position, we are seeking multi-year financial support from the Town of Carrboro, Town of Chapel Hill, and Orange County. Both Chapel Hill and Carrboro have pledged support for the effort. Orange County's annual $30,000 investment will be allocated towards the total salary and programming costs estimated and outlined below. Our goal is to raise enough funds to support 5 years of funding for a full-time position. Draft Budget Salary $ 60,000 Health/Dental/Vision/Ret. $ 9,000 Prof. Development $ 2,000 Employee Cost $ 71,000 Programming $ 25,000 YEAR 1 COSTS (est.) $ 96,000 Year 2 $ 98,400 (2.5961 annual increases) Year 3 $ 100,860 Year 4 $ 103,382 Year 5 $ 105,966 TOTAL 5-YEAR COSTS (est.) $ 504,608 ($90,000 from Orange County and the rest from other sources) In partnership, "YIk� Aaron Nelson, IOM President & CEO The Chamber for a Greater Chapel Hill-Carrboro 5 Attachment B Supplemental Information from the Chamber President Regarding Request to Jointly Fund a Chamber Position to Support the Growth of New and Existing Black, Latinx, and Refugee Owned Businesses' Carrboro Carrboro has executed a Service Contract with The Chamber for three years (FY24, FY25, FY26) at $20,000 per year for a total of$60,000. It is my understanding that earlier this fiscal year, Carrboro Town Council allocated $200,000+ in ARPA funds to support the growth and creation of BIPOC businesses and that those funds are being used to support this effort. I do not believe that the Council considered or took action on our specific request. Chapel Hill The Chapel Hill Town Manager has agreed that Chapel Hill will join in funding this effort at$30,000 per year,for three years, for a total of$90,000. Chapel Hill is reviewing Carrboro's signed Service Contract and is drafting one for signing. Manager Blue says has identified the funds for this year and I understand that subsequent funding will be included in subsequent budgets. I was invited to brief the Council Committee on Economic Sustainability(which includes all members of Council), but the proposal and related funding are not scheduled to go before the Council for a vote. The Carrboro service contract includes these key provisions. - Hire a full-time professional to support the growth of new and existing Black, Latinx, and refugee-owned enterprises who will serve as a navigator and connector identifying BIPOC enterprises and entrepreneurs, build trusting relationships, map and connect them to resources, create strong networks, and help them navigate complex systems of small business support. - Deliver on the following responsibilities: o Create and maintain a list of local BIPOC-led enterprises; o Conduct a needs assessment of local Black, Latinx, and refugee-owned enterprises; o Map local business-support organizations, education and training opportunities, sources of grants and capital, and other resources; o Connect, convene, and identify/create collision spaces; o Staff the Black Business Alliance and support El Centro Hispano and local refugee- support organizations; o Represent BIPOC business interests to policy leaders and decision makers; and o Establish and improve upon local BIPOC business retention and persistence rates. Q:Will this initiative duplicate any existing County or municipal efforts. A: No.There is currently no fulltime person dedicated to identifying, connecting, serving, and supporting BIPOC businesses in any of the local business support organizations (Orange Economic Development, Chapel Hill Economic Development, Carrboro Economic Development, Hillsborough Economic Development, Hillsborough/Orange County Chamber, Chamber for a Greater Chapel Hill-Carrboro, Small 1 Copied from an email to Deputy Manager Travis Myren dated March 6,2024 6 Business Technology Development Center, Durham Tech Small Business Center, Empowerment, Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau, Launch, Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership, and Carrboro Business Alliance). Q: Is this a business counsellor position similar to what exists at the Small Business Center and the Small Business Technology Development Center. A: No. This position is not a business counsellor, instead designed to be a navigator and connector- identifying local enterprises and entrepreneurs, building relationships with them, and connecting them with local resources.This effort is focused on outreach and engagement, rather than responding to inquiry and business counselling requests. Q:Will the person work out of the Chamber in Chapel Hill? A: No and Yes. The position will have a place to work at The Chamber but will be encouraged to office regularly throughout the community and from the offices of partner organizations. In the first many months the position will take periods of time to embed with partners to build relationships and learn about their organizations, services, and resources.The Chamber will serve as the fiscal home—paying salary and excellent benefits, providing supplies and equipment, and funding their programing and communication budgets. Q:Are agricultural businesses able to use the service? A:Yes.This position will work with any type and kind of enterprise. With a growing number of Black farmers, organizations like Transplanting Traditions (farm coop working principally with refugee populations), agriculture has great opportunities for business growth and new business starts. Q: How will the position work with Hillsborough Economic Development and the Hillsborough/Orange County Chamber? A:The Chamber has very good relationships with both and have partnered well with each in the past. The Chamber has briefed Hillsborough senior planning/economic development staff on the effort and they expressed interest in partnership. Ways this effort might partner with Hillsborough and the Hillsborough/Orange County Chamber include a more formal partnership on our Black Business Alliance (currently open to any Orange County enterprise), expanding our partnership with El Centro Hispano to include Hillsborough, disaggregating the data we collect to be able to segregate Hillsborough and unincorporated Orange data, and partnering on joint educational and social programming with countywide organizations.