Guilford County is one of the few counties in North Carolina to have two major cities, and that means, when it comes to providing county services, there has to be two of everything so as to be convenient to both cities.

That now applies to the county’s fast-growing MWBE Department, which has been operating out of Greensboro but will be expanding its services to High Point.

The move comes largely at the behest of Vice Chair of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners Carlvena Foster, who represents much of High Point and is always seeking equal service for High Point.

Foster questioned county staff about the progress of the expansion into High Point at the board’s Thursday, Feb. 15 meeting.

This week Foster told the Rhino Times: “It makes sense. We have a courthouse in High Point and Greensboro. We have a Family Justice Center in High Point and Greensboro.”

She could have continued – two jails, two Register of Deeds offices, two Tax Department offices and on and on.

The county hasn’t determined where the MWBE services will be located in High Point.

 In Greensboro, department staff has moved out of county office space into the Nussbaum Center to have extra space, more parking for clients, and to be in the Center which is home to many MWBE businesses and start-ups.

Foster said that for now, the time of MWBE staff will be shared between the two cities – at first with MWBE staff members operating in High Point two or three days a week.

It’s not known where the service will be based in the county’s second largest city.

Foster said she wants to see the MWBE staff “out in the community.”

The Guilford County Board of Commissioners has put a tremendous amount of effort into its MWBE Department after years of disappointing results when it came to the number or minority and women-owned firms doing business with the county.

In January of last year, the Guilford County commissioners added five positions to the formerly two department positions – nearly tripling the size of the department in one night.