The Certification Office for Business Inclusion and Diversity (COBID) is where the public and private sector turn to find businesses of color for contracting opportunities in Oregon. The problem with this system is that the process to become certified is so challenging that many business owners of color, especially Black business owners, struggle to complete the process or simply choose not to pursue COBID certification. As a result, the COBID database is not representative of businesses of color that are licensed to operate in Oregon.
Every business that wants to operate in the state of Oregon must apply for a business license and renew the license annually through the Secretary of State’s Office. While it is possible to view all businesses that are licensed to operate in Oregon through the Secretary of State website portal, there is no way to identify which businesses are owned by people of color.
There are many businesses owned by people of color that are licensed to do business in Oregon, but it is difficult to find out who owns the businesses and where they are located. This makes it challenging for private sector businesses to find businesses of color for contracting opportunities. It also makes it difficult for organizations that can help businesses get COBID certification, identify and locate businesses owned by people of color to help them get certified. Businesses owned by people of color are not getting enough contracting opportunities in the private and public sector because of this issue and legislative proposal can help remedy this problem.
A new approach to help Oregon do a better job in helping create opportunity for businesses owned by people of color, is legislation that would allow every business that applies for or renews a business license, to identify the ethnicity of the business owner or principal of any corporation legally operating in state of Oregon on the business license application. In addition, the Secretary of State website portal should be updated to allow the non-profit organizations that serve businesses owned by people of color to request a list of businesses using the race or ethnicity of the business owner as a filter.
2022 marked the 20th year for Annual Leadership Summit, a forum that draws business, community, and elected leaders from across the state to address policy issues critical to Oregon’s economy and life.
In preparation for the event, Oregon Business prepared a preliminary 10-point policy agenda with an overarching vision of Shared Prosperity, that will present opportunities for action in 2023 and beyond. Point number 9 of the policy is, “Economic Development: Create an economic development infrastructure that supports business expansion statewide.”
The preamble of Policy Point 9 states, “It’s time to rethink how we organize for economic development. Effective economic development efforts bring community leaders together to provide responsive services and to make the case for doing business here. Currently, Oregon’s public and private efforts are well-meaning, but scattered and misaligned. As a result, Oregon is missing opportunities to create, recruit and grow businesses.”
One of the 3 recommendations in this section is to, “Create a state-level forum to identify and address the specific challenges of minority and women owned businesses.”
To be successful with this recommendation, it is important for the state to be able to identify the individual businesses that are owned by people of color and where their businesses are physically located. This is the best way to identify and address specific challenges of businesses owned by people of color.
State Representative Janelle Bynum (pictured) and State Representative Travis Nelson, introduced Oregon House Bill 3272 which permits the Secretary of State to collect and share and communicate with approved organizations information about ethnicity, domicile and gender, veteran status and street address or electronic mail address of owner or principal of large business that applies for or renews license, permit or registration in Oregon. The bill requires local agencies and state agencies to collect and report information about ethnicity, domicile and veteran status of owner or principal of large business.
This legislation calls for the establishment of a Business Registration Information Center within the Office of the Secretary of State to collect culturally specific data from existing and new registrants and share the information with community-based organizations that foster economic development and engage in substantive efforts to increase the number of minority-owned businesses, women-owned businesses and businesses that veterans own. The data will also make it easier to find these kinds of businesses that already exist so that they can receive services to help them grow and expand.
Oregon House Bill 3272 is currently in the Joint Committee on Ways and Means. It is important that this legislation be passed out of this committee and referred to the Oregon House and Senate for full approval.
If this legislation passes both Chambers and is signed by the Governor, it will help us truly understand the diverse make up of businesses in Oregon, make it easier for culturally specific business to find businesses of color and help grow and expand. This in turn will not only improve the economic condition of communities of color but will also improve the economic condition of the entire state of Oregon.
I encourage our elected officials to pass this legislation so that all businesses can be successful and help grow Oregon’s economy.
Lance J. Randall, Executive Director