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8 <br /> 1 BACKGROUND: The Chamber for a Greater Chapel Hill Carrboro recently submitted a request <br /> 2 to the County Manager's Office to jointly fund a Chamber employee to support the growth of new <br /> 3 and existing Black, Latinx, and refugee owned businesses. Under the proposal, Orange County <br /> 4 would contribute $30,000 per year to support the position for three years. The other funding <br /> 5 partners would be the Town of Chapel Hill, the Town of Carrboro, and the Chamber. The Town <br /> 6 of Chapel Hill would contribute $30,000 annually, and the Town of Carrboro would contribute <br /> 7 $20,000 annually. Both of those commitments would be for three years. <br /> 8 <br /> 9 The attached request from the Chamber explains the key position responsibilities, intended <br /> 10 outcomes, and proposed budget. The Chamber also provided supplemental information on the <br /> 11 status of contracting with the Towns and responses to questions posed by staff. <br /> 12 <br /> 13 Although the County does not have a position dedicated to support Black, Latinx, and refugee <br /> 14 owned businesses, County departments involved in economic development emphasize marketing <br /> 15 County programs and services to non-white business owners. <br /> 16 <br /> 17 • The Department of Economic Development has increased marketing efforts for its small <br /> 18 business and agriculture grant awards including several grant application presentations to <br /> 19 EMPOWERment's cohort members attending classes at Midway Business Center. <br /> 20 <br /> 21 • Economic Development routinely introduces small businesses to free financial counseling <br /> 22 services offered by Durham Tech's Small Business Center, SCORE, UNC's Small <br /> 23 Business Technology Development Center (SBTDC), EMPOWERment, and similar <br /> 24 providers. The Department's website includes a section titled "Minority Business <br /> 25 Resources" that is intended to promote economic advancement of minority businesses. <br /> 26 This page can be found: https://www.orangecountync.gov/2788/Minority-Business- <br /> 27 Resources <br /> 28 <br /> 29 The Chapel Hill Orange County Visitors Bureau has built and continues to maintain several <br /> 30 websites in support of Black, Latinx and refugee affiliated groups, to include: <br /> 31 o www.chapelhilldiversity.com which is designed to amplify diverse narratives; and <br /> 32 o https://chapelhilldiversity.com/businesses/ which is a continuously updated Black <br /> 33 Owned Businesses directory. <br /> 34 <br /> 35 The County's Eno Arts Mill studio in Hillsborough serves as an art-based small businesses <br /> 36 incubator by providing critical workspace for area artists which also has a focused <br /> 37 marketing campaign. Currently, 43% of the County's artist-tenants are Black, Latinx, or <br /> 38 refugee. <br /> 39 <br /> 40 • The Piedmont Food Processing Center offers a variety of assistance and financial <br /> 41 assistance for incubator members. Of the current tenants, 48% are women-owned small <br /> 42 businesses and 59% are owned by non-white individuals. <br /> 43 <br /> 44 The County also provides funding to support Durham Technical Community College's <br /> 45 Small Business Center. The Center provides free, one-on-one business counseling and <br /> 46 a variety of business skills seminars/webinars. Of the enterprises served by the Center in <br /> 47 Orange County, 83.3% are women-owned, 16.7% are Hispanic/Latino owned, and 63.6% <br /> 48 of all the businesses served identify as part of a minority group. <br /> 49 <br />