For the last two decades, Guilford County government has made a concerted effort to have an acceptable Minority/Women Business Enterprise (MWBE) program – but, for most of that time, the results haven’t been good.
Over the years, Guilford County Commissioners Bruce Davis, the late Carolyn Coleman and current Chairman of the Board Skip Alston, and many others, have tried and tried to increase those numbers, but it’s been to little avail.
The struggle continues, however and on Wednesday, Dec. 14, Guilford County announced that Shaunne Thomas had been named the new director of the county’s MWBE program which works to help minority and women owned businesses get service and sales contracts with Guilford County government.
The department does everything from seeking out MWBE businesses to making sure that those business owners know about contracts out for bids. The department also helps the target firms fill out applications and holds events meant to draw MWBE businesses.
Over the years, the county has bent so far over backward to attract MWBE businesses that some commissioners – such as former Republican Guilford County Commissioner Alan Branson – have criticized the level of “hand holding” the county does.
In one heated debate at a commissioner’s retreat several years ago, Branson contended that there was a lot of work available for firms that did good work and offered competitive bids. He said that, regardless of the race or sex of the owners, if they could not be aware of bids and fill out an application then they probably weren’t the ones who should be awarded the contracts.
Now it will be Thomas’s turn to increase the percentage of MWBE participation.
Assistant County Manager Jason Jones said the county has great hopes for Thomas.
“We are excited to welcome Shaunne to the Guilford County team,” Jones stated in a Wednesday, Dec. 14 press release. “Shaunne has excellent experience and a reputation for resolving problems, improving customer satisfaction, and driving overall operational improvements. She is going to be a great leader for our M/WBE program as we work to develop stronger relationships with our partners.”
Thomas recently worked for the City of Charlotte as the Interim Compliance Manager where she was charged with implementing the Charlotte Business Inclusion Plan.
In the press release, she hinted at the strategy she’ll use in Guilford County.
“One of the hurdles in front of an MWBE firm wanting to grow and do business with a local government is often simply having the information needed to be successful in bidding opportunities, so it’s important to ensure the MWBE vendors know what opportunities are on the horizon and how to get involved in the process,” Thomas stated.
“For me, success in this program looks like more MWBE firms winning contracts,” she added. “I’m excited to get to know our MWBE community and to build out the relationships and tools needed for them to see success.”
Thomas’ achievements include assisting in the creation and implementation of the Charlotte Business Inclusion Plan, putting into place a citywide diversity and inclusion compliance tracking system as well as a certification system for minority- women- and small-businesses.
Thomas won the 2019 Director’s Choice Award for Outstanding performance, the 2019 Visionary Leader Award, the 2019 Pacesetter Leader Award, the 2018 Inspirational Leader Award and the 2017 Team Excellence Award.
Do we have a “Small Business” Program Director? This group has the same problems as the MWBEs. I would guess that this group does not cry enough to the powers that be and we do not have a built in mouth piece on the City Council.
Surprise , she is from the City of Charlotte being hired to do a job that state and federal courts have ruled several times that it is against the law to favor one group over the other. Below is an excerpt from Charlottes own lawyers:
The legality of programs like the CBI program have come under increasing scrutiny in recent years. Colette Holt, principal of Colette Holt & Associates, informed the council at a Sept. 12,2022, meeting that the federal courts in recent decades have become more conservative on these issues. Last year, a federal judge temporarily blocked President Joe Biden’s debt relief program for minority farmers, the New York Times reported. Never stops
Read more at: https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article266434681.html#storylink=cpy
Do-gooder preferences to get votes. Hire people who do good work.
LBJ knew what he could do with his “affirmative action” programs. Amongst all our 4+ year Presidents, LBJ has done the most damage to our Republic. If you don’t know why, you need to read something instead of being spoon-fed propaganda from the rabid press.
Another Charlottee flunky…how fortunate for Greensboro..
Wow a black woman for the job. Man ole man that’s a real surprise. Could a White woman, Asian or Hispanic not qualify. Just asking
How about a straight white male? Oh, yeah, they are in the back of the room, as decoration.
In case no one has noticed, ever since these woke ideologues have been able to weed their way into business through the appeasement programs of the federal government everything and I mean everything has gone to hell. There is no work ethic. The jackass at the drive through doesn’t give two thoughts about whether the customer is satisfied, their order is correct or if that customer ever comes back! A friend in the “HOSPITALITY “ business said to me today that the Gen Z server at her restaurant was reading an emailed complaint about the service she had received while in the drive-through. His response to her was, my job is just to give her food, not make her happy. WOW! In my industry, we are required by the communist led government to hire MWBE contractors in order to get government contracts for bids we could get without these labor brokers. Very rarely can you find a minority contractor that can do either quality work or complete their work on time let alone both which is expected of ALL CONTRACTORS. Racism has nothing to do with it. How about instead of listing contractors by race they’re listed by competency. What’s wrong with getting based on ability and reliability? Who what’s to go into the emergency room to be seen by a doctor who isn’t qualified or competent but is a gender or race that meets the feds quota? Not me! What happened to being a colorblind society? I don’t care what color a person is as long as they are competent in whatever profession. Race should NEVER be considered EVER no matter the subject and unless I have misunderstood the definition racism is when you show favoritism to one group or another Mainly When Based Exclusively on race! If these folks truly want to END RACISM, they would end MWBE. Yeah, right !
This has never worked, and will never work. You can’t fix racism with racism funded by the taxpayers and carried out by the government. MWBE might as well stand for Men White Being Excluded.
Can we stop bringing anyone from Charlotte. I don’t want greensboro to be like Charlotte. I won’t go there for anything
Charlotte is one of the fasted growing major cities in the U.S. Second only to Austin, I believe. The LEFT has moved in from points near & far, bringing their politics with them.