North Carolina business owners were understandably optimistic when they heard the state would receive $6.1 billion from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The Office for Historically Underutilized Businesses (HUB) is working to ensure that minority-, women-, disabled- and disadvantage-owned businesses will enjoy an equal opportunity to participate in providing state government with the goods and services it requires.
To help level the playing field, Governor Perdue recently signed Executive Order 13, which tasks the HUB Office with assisting certified HUB firms in identifying and obtaining ARRA contract opportunities. As with all state government contracts, the aspirational goal for goods and services is 10 percent (by dollar amount) of purchasing to be derived from HUB firms.
The HUB Office will collaborate with the N.C. Office of Economic Recovery and Investment and other state agencies to ensure that HUB firms are actively engaged in this endeavor. We also will partner with local, regional, and non-profit economic development organizations to support outreach and assistance to HUB firms, and to encourage state and local governments to make full use of our online database of certified HUB firms.
As always, our Certification Specialists are working with HUB firms to increase awareness of contract opportunities with the various state agencies, as well as provide outreach and training to help them succeed in this competitive market.