H. B. 4643
(By Delegates Webster, Spencer, Palumbo, Moore,
Marshall, Hatfield, Hutchins and Brown)
[Introduced February 18, 2008; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new section, designated §5B-2-15, relating to
minority business development; establishing an office within
the West Virginia Development Office to promote and support
the establishment and growth of minority owned businesses in
this state; setting forth goals and objectives; and requiring
an annual report to the West Virginia Legislature.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That
the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto a new section, designated §5B-2-15 §31-15-23a
,
to read as follows:
CHAPTER 5B. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ACT OF 1985.
ARTICLE 2. WEST VIRGINIA DEVELOPMENT OFFICE.
§5B-2-15. Requiring the establishment of the "West Virginia
Minority Business Office"; goals and objectives; and annual
reporting requirement.
(a) The West Virginia Legislature finds:
(1) Small businesses are an essential part of West Virginia's economy;
(2) Many barriers and obstacles exist to starting a small
business;
(3) Prospective small business owners often require access to
reliable and accurate information and advice pertaining to the
formation or expansion of a small business, to help them forecast
their business needs, develop sustainable business plans, seek and
obtain adequate financing, and mentor them as they face challenges
associated with a new or expanding business;
(4) The success of a small business is enhanced by the
improved access to reliable information and advice;
(5) In order to strengthen the economic growth of West
Virginia and to respond to changing jobs markets, West Virginia
seeks to attract new businesses and enterprises of all sizes into
this state, from a variety of fields;
(6) Several of the established and emerging businesses which
are currently located in this state or are interested in locating
to this state are seeking to partner or contract with businesses of
all types, including minority-owned and minority-operated
businesses;
(7) Minorities are presently underrepresented in the small
business community in West Virginia;
(8) There are extensive resources tailored to mentor and
support the development of minority-owned and -operated businesses
in other states which are not comparably available in West
Virginia;
(9) While federal grant programs are presently available to
fund the establishment and maintenance of non-profit groups and
independent agencies focused on the offering of additional
training, mentoring, technical support and advice to businesses
owned by women, similar federal funding is not currently available
to support such entities for minority-owned businesses; and,
(10) The State of West Virginia as a whole would benefit from
the development of additional resources designed to promote the
establishment and support of a stronger and more successful
minority-owned business community.
(b) In light of the above, the West Virginia Legislature
hereby establishes an "Office of Minority Business Development",
to be contained within the West Virginia Development Office.
(c) The goals and objectives of the Office of Minority
Business Development are as follows:
(1) To promote, develop and advance the business prosperity
and economic welfare of the State of West Virginia and its
citizens;
(2) To encourage and assist through loans, investments or
other business transactions in the locating of new minority-owned
or minority-operated business and industry within the State;
(3) To rehabilitate and assist existing minority-owned or
minority-operated business and industries;
(4)To stimulate and promote the expansion of all kinds of
minority-owned or minority-operated business and industrial
activity, which will in turn advance business and industrial development and maintain the economic stability of the State;
(5) To identify businesses, resources and programs both inside
and outside of state government which are available to assist,
support and mentor the development and growth of minority-owned
businesses.
(6) To identify the sources of potential financing that is
available to support the establishment or expansion of minority-
owned businesses, both through traditional bank loans, mitigated
options through banks, federal or state guaranteed loan programs
through both in-state and out-of-state banking institutions, micro
loans programs offered through federal or state agencies, or other
available sources;
(7) To provide support and technical advice and assistance,
through the Department of Commerce's Small Business Division, to
existing and prospective small minority business owners, with
respect to the preparation and submission of applications for
financing by persons seeking to establish or expand a minority-
owned business in this state;
(8) To promote and seek the establishment of a minority
business council in this State, either as a stand-alone facility,
or by partnership with an existing minority business council
located in a neighboring state, to help identify West Virginia
minority-owned businesses and to establish additional mentoring and
support opportunities for minority-owned business owners in this
state; and,
(9) To improve coordination between banks, agencies and existing programs and resources that are available to prepare and
process loans for necessary infrastructure, equipment, working
capital requirements and other financial needs of new or expanding
minority-owned businesses.
(d) The Office of Minority Business Development shall submit
annual reports to the Legislature's Joint Committee on Government
and Finance regarding the progress which has been made to
establish, promote or expand minority-owned businesses in the
State, including but not limited to the identification of the
resources that presently exist in the State to support the
development of minority-owned business, and shall identify or
propose additional programs or resources that are needed to further
their development.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to encourage the
development of minority businesses in this state by establishing an
Office of Minority Business Development within the West Virginia
Development Office.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.