DeWine, Portune differ on small business proposal

Hamilton County needs to improve its Small Business Program to help local companies and employees compete for county business.

That was the assessment presented Monday to Hamilton County commissioners by Bernice Walker, the county’s Small Business Development director (at left in photo).

She suggested ways to make “small and disadvantaged businesses” more competitive with larger companies. Her suggestions included:

* Lowering the dollar amount businesses do to be considered “small businesses” so they don’t have to compete with businesses that now do tens of millions of dollars of business per year;.

* Forcing companies to be certified as small businesses in Hamilton County, something not now required.

* Requiring “a minimum fixed percentage of the total dollar value of contracts awarded and procurements made by Hamilton County” be awarded to small businesses.

Commissioner Todd Portune praised her interim report.

Commissioner Pat DeWine didn’t, saying he has “a lot of concerns about where we’re going here.”

DeWine said Hamilton County already is doing things like combining all of the purchases Hamilton County offices make under a central office to save money.

“This seems to be heading in the opposite direction,” DeWine said.

DeWine questioned the cost of the suggested changes – they will result in the program having to hire another person, Walker suggested – and wondered what benefit they would have.

Portune answered that it would help stimulate the local economy by hiring local companies that hire local workers as well as address “long-standing areas of poverty and disinvestment.”

One of the resource materials Walker used in writing her report and making her recommendations was “A Proposal to Enhance and Improve the Hamilton County Small Business Program.”

It was submitted June 19 by its author – Portune.

Commissioner Phil Heimlich didn’t weigh in on the subject.