North Carolina ranks tenth in Black Business Index

RALEIGH — VOTEBLACKBUSINESS: State of Black Business, 21st edition ranks North Carolina tenth in its annual Black Business Affinity Index.

The state has more historically Black colleges and universities than any other state. N.C. A&T State has particularly focused on technology transfer. The North Carolina A&T Transportation Institute is a research, training, and technology transfer unit housed in the Willie A. Deese College of Business and Economics. During the visit, Governor Cooper and Secretary Buttigieg spoke with students about their research projects, toured the rural test track and watched a drone demonstration. NCDOT is partnering with NCA&T to conduct research on autonomous vehicles to prepare for the future of transportation.

For almost three decades, its Office of Historically Underutilized Businesses has implemented executive orders and legislation:

“143-48.  State policy; cooperation in promoting the use of small contractors, minority contractors, physically handicapped contractors, and women contractors; purpose; required annual reports.

“(a) Policy. – It is the policy of this State to encourage and promote the use of small contractors, minority contractors, physically handicapped contractors, and women contractors in State purchasing of goods and services. All State agencies, institutions and political subdivisions shall cooperate with the Department of Administration and all other State agencies, institutions and political subdivisions in efforts to encourage the use of small contractors, minority contractors, physically handicapped contractors, and women contractors in achieving the purpose of this Article, which is to provide for the effective and economical acquisition, management and disposition of goods and services by and through the Department of Administration.

“(b) Reporting. – Every governmental entity required by statute to use the services of the Department of Administration in the purchase of goods and services, every local school administrative unit, and every private, nonprofit corporation other than an institution of higher education or a hospital that receives an appropriation of five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) or more during a fiscal year from the General Assembly shall report to the department of Administration annually on what percentage of its contract purchases of goods and services, through term contracts and open-market contracts, were from minority-owned businesses, what percentage from female-owned businesses, what percentage from disabled-owned businesses, what percentage from disabled business enterprises and what percentage from nonprofit work centers for the blind and the severely disabled. The same governmental entities shall include in their reports what percentages of the contract bids for such purchases were from such businesses. The Department of Administration shall provide instructions to the reporting entities concerning the manner of reporting and the definitions of the businesses referred to in this act, provided that, for the purposes of this act: