Councilman Manning named chair of office of Small Business Opportunity Ad Hoc Committee
June 20, 2016
Richland County Councilman Jim Manning, who represents District 8, was unanimously voted chair of an ad hoc committee that aims to improve the outreach of small, local businesses.
The Richland County Office of Small Business Opportunity (OSBO), which is a division of the Office of Procurement, manages the County’s Small Local Business Enterprises (SLBE) program. The purpose of the SLBE program is to provide a race- and gender-neutral procurement tool for the County to use in its efforts to ensure that all segments of the local business community have a reasonable and significant opportunity to participate in contracts with Richland County and other entities.
The OSBO is guided by an ad hoc committee comprised of five Councilmembers: Chairman Manning, Bill Malinowski, Damon Jeter, Paul Livingston and Norman Jackson. Ad hoc committees are various short-term committees that are formed for a specific task or objective and are dissolved after the completion of the task or achievement of the objective. Presently, there are 19 different ad hoc committees comprised of County Councilmembers and staff.
“I’m honored to receive my colleagues’ support to lead this most important committee,” Manning said.
At its recent meeting, the OSBO Ad Hoc Committee recommended increasing a contract cap from $250,000 to $500,000, which will provide certified small, local business enterprises the opportunity to bid on larger contracts, thereby increasing their profit margins. This aims to also assist the firms in “resume building,” which will lead to work on larger projects.
Manning and Jackson, along with Richland County and Transportation Penny staff, recently attended a board meeting with the South Carolina chapter of the National Association of Minority Contractors to form a partnership to create forthcoming improvements to the County’s SLBE program.
“I am proud of the new working relationship that has been forged between the contractors and staff,” Manning said. “It is truly a win-win for Richland County.
For more information about Richland County’s SLBE Program, click here, email [email protected] or call 803-576-1540.
