Minority Business Commission holds promise
New Virginia group working to support minority-owned businesses, change outdated laws
Virginia’s new Minority Business Commission will be getting to work at what should be an ideal time to change things for the better.
There has long been a need to correct systemic disadvantages that keep minority business owners from having an equal chance of succeeding. Developments in 2020 have made that need even greater.
Events this past year have raised awareness of the very real — although sometimes far from obvious — obstacles that have made it tougher than it should be for minority business owners to get ahead. Recent events have also helped more people understand that those obstacles are often entrenched in our ways of doing things, and that tackling them requires broader and more creative strategies than past efforts.
This year of COVID has also made the need more urgent. Small businesses, especially minority-owned businesses that were already struggling, have been especially hard hit by the restrictions and economic woes caused by the pandemic. Unfortunately, some of the emergency federal measures that were touted as help for small businesses went instead to companies that were considerably bigger and wealthier than the mom-and-pop operations in our neighborhoods.
One of the things organizers of the new commission hope it can do is ensure that coming recovery efforts here in Virginia don’t overlook such small, minority-owned enterprises.
Fortunately, the commission seems to have a lot going for it, including leadership and input from several dedicated people who have been successful in similar efforts here in Hampton
Roads. Virginia Beach’s Minority Business Council, which has been bringing local business and government leaders together for more than 20 years to address the problems of businesses owned by minorities and women, has been a valuable resource as the statewide effort has geared up.
The statewide commission officially got going July 1 as part of the two-year budget approved in May.
Familiar Hampton Roads leaders including Shannon Kane, a former Virginia Beach City Council member; Tiffany Boyle, the Newport News commissioner of the revenue; and Benny
Zhang, then a Williamsburg City Council member, were instrumental in establishing the new commission. A bipartisan group of area legislators helped shepherd the legislation through the General Assembly.
Now Boyle has been appointed to the commission, along with Trina Coleman, a scientist, educational consultant and entrepreneur in Hampton. They join several other area leaders on the commission, a good sign that the statewide venture will take advantage of experience gained in successful efforts here.
That experience should help the commission realize that some past efforts, even if done in good faith, have not been the best way to overcome the disparities that minority and women business owners face. For years, a primary initiative has been to create “set-asides” guaranteeing a certain percentage of contracts to particular categories of businesses. While intentions were good, set-asides have proved to be easily abused and manipulated. They also cause resentment, and they can work to repress rather than reward competition and innovation.
Also, while state contracts are important, and it’s good to help minority businesses get their fair share, the private sector matters too.
The commission’s organizers have said it will look at how existing laws and program affect minority businesses, and whether there are unintended consequences of the way laws are written, especially laws that have been on the books for a while. Programs may need updating, new initiatives may be needed. Some laws and programs are outdated; others, as we are beginning to understand, are downright racist.
One of the many good things about the commission is that it includes business owners who have been dealing with marketplace realities, along with lawmakers, local government officials and representatives of advocacy groups.
Virginia’s new statewide Minority Business Commission will begin to meet during the legislative session that starts next month. With increased understanding of the problems facing minority businesses, bipartisan cooperation and the benefit of experienced leadership, the commission should be able to make a needed difference.