Proponent Testimony - Sub. Senate Bill 105 (John Rizzo, Greater Akron Chamber)

Summary

John Rizzo, Director, Government Affairs of the Greater Akron Chamber, gives proponent testimony for Sub. Senate Bill 105 to the House Economic and Workforce Development Committee on Wednesday, October 27th. The testimony states that the chamber represents over 1,900 businesses, that the bill would require political subdivisions to recognize state certifications of MBEs, WBEs and VBEs, and that it passed the Senate unanimously. It states that, according to the Ohio Department of Development, there are 1145 certified MBEs in Ohio and, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration, there are 122,602 MBEs in Ohio. The chamber asks the committee to consider amendments defining the scope of the MBE and WBE application process.

Summary drafted by a model from the document's text below and checked by script against that text before publication. It is a navigation aid, not a reading of what the document proves. Where AI is used

Full text

                               Proponent Testimony for Sub. Senate Bill 105
                          House Economic and Workforce Development Committee
                                         Wednesday, October 27th

                                                  John Rizzo
                                         Director, Government Affairs
                                           Greater Akron Chamber

Chair Edwards, Vice Chair Powell, Ranking Member Upchurch, and members of the House Economic and
Workforce Development Committee, thank you for the opportunity to lend my support to Senate Bill 105,
which would require political subdivisions to recognize state certifications of MBEs, WBEs and VBEs.

I would first like to recognize Senators Vernon Sykes and Kirk Schuring for their leadership on this
important legislation and Secretary of State Frank LaRose for being a longtime advocate of increasing the
visibility, utilization, and reciprocity of state-issued MBE certifications. We have genuinely appreciated their
collaboration on this issue and look forward to continuing our collective dialogue on how we can further
support minority, women, and veteran-owned businesses.

As a regional chamber of commerce and economic development organization who represents over 1,900
businesses, we are cognizant of the economic imperatives associated with supporting MBEs, WBEs and
VBEs. Within our broader work to support these firms, certification programs have been a common topic of
discussion and multiple policy improvements have been advocated for by our local businesses. Senate Bill
105 speaks to certification reciprocity, which is a huge step in the right direction and will help business cut
the red tape currently involved with accessing local business opportunities. This bill represents good policy
and passed the Senate unanimously, and so we urge you to consider supporting its passage in the House.

In addition to the provisions currently found within Senate Bill 105, the Greater Akron Chamber respectfully
request you consider amendments to explicitly define the scope of the MBE and WBE application process
and create accountability around their procedural requirements. The benefits of being certified with the
State of Ohio are becoming more and more prevalent and go beyond the state set asides. A small business
holding the MBE, WBE, or VBE certification is better positioned to seek private sector procurement, public
and private access to capital programs, exclusive consulting and coaching opportunities, and other
opportunities. We feel that through additional amendments currently being discussed with the bill’s
sponsors, the State of Ohio can provide for greater engagement in these programs – which is currently
lacking.

For example, according to the Ohio Department of Development, there are 1145 certified MBEs in Ohio.
According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, there are 122,602 MBEs in Ohio. This means that
less than 1% of Ohio MBEs are registered. With that said, we view the MBE certification as a prime
opportunity to encourage and promote increased business opportunities for minority entrepreneurs. If we
can improve the application process and achieve greater utilization of these kinds of programs, we can
broaden the ability of MBEs (and similarly, WBEs!) to seek out business opportunities and realize the
benefits of being certified.
As these certifications become more and more relevant to programs and benefits beyond that of state set
asides, we believe the application process should more effectively serve the core purpose of certifying only
relevant facts that specifically and directly prove 1) the identity, residency, and disadvantaged status of the
principals of the business, 2) ownership and control of the business, and 3) that the business is operational.
Currently, depending on how a business is incorporated, the certification application for MBEs and WBEs
requires 37+ documents as part of its review. Some of these requirements require years of receipts, service
agreements, invoices, etc. Simply put, it is blatantly onerous to navigate. Our collective belief, based on
existing Ohio Revised Code and conversations with state employees, is that these certification programs
serve to verify various facts that speak to the items listed above and are not meant to make any
determinations beyond that. We feel strongly that providing this additional structure to the certification
program(s) will support long-term consistency and integrity for years to come and enable efforts to ensure
the program is focused solely on verifying the necessary facts for certification.

We appreciate your consideration of this important legislation and urge you to support Senate Bill 105.
Furthermore, we encourage you to continue working with key stakeholders on additional ways we can
improve the State of Ohio’s certification programs in ways that stand to increase business opportunities for
MBEs, WBEs and VBEs. We look forward to helping continue dialogs about accelerating the growth and
success of Ohio’s small businesses and supporting the ability of these firms to increase their growth,
investment, and employment in Ohio.

Thank you for your consideration.


File and source

File

2021-10-27_econ-workforce-dev_testimony_johnrizzo-sb105-written.pdf

Size

163,014 bytes

SHA-256

38afd596c7bf24e93a1cc3bd38f21ff3d4415ed1053b1425d89be48d8968e89c

Our copy

2021-10-27_econ-workforce-dev_testimony_johnrizzo-sb105-written.pdf

Original

No public link identified.