Minority Business Council Meeting Virtual Meeting via Cisco Webex

January 8, 2021 3:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.

MBC Vision: To be the leading influence in connecting contractor resources with city opportunities and beyond.

MBC Mission: Advance and facilitate an environment of business opportunities, focusing on increasing expenditures to minority and women-owned businesses by the City of Virginia Beach as a means to further the City’s economic development and vitality.

Public Comment: Any member of the public who would like to address the Minority Business Council should register with the Chair at least 24 hours prior to the meeting. You may contact the current MBC Chair, Sheila Johnson at 757-724-1833. If you are unable to register with the Chair prior to this deadline, you are encouraged to register to speak at a subsequent meeting.

Name Agenda Item Minutes

I.

Sheila Johnson Chair

Call to Order Welcome, Introductions and Approval of Minutes

10

Industry Hour Ms. Nicky S. Vasquez, Youth Opportunities Office, Parks and Recreation, City of Virginia Beach 10

II Damen Watson Outreach Committee

10

III. Frances Thompson Minority Awareness Committee

10

IV. Olga Torres Data Collection and Analysis 5

V. Kelvin Arthur

Policy Committee 5

VI. Sheila Johnson Other Business:

Staff Report – Rebecca Kee 5

2020 Census Subcommittee Report – Olga Torres 5

Minority Business Commission Report – Ed Hopper/Damen Watson 5

Economic Development Report – Jeff Smith 5 Liaison Reports:

City Council Members: Louis Jones Aaron Rouse 5

School Board Liaison: Dr. LaQuiche Parrott 5

REMINDER: Submit volunteer form

Committees Policy Outreach Minority Awareness Data Collection & Analysis Kelvin Arthur, Chair (EB) Damen Watson, Chair Frances Thompson, Chair (EB) Olga Torres, Chair (EB) Sheila Johnson (EB) Ed Hopper Harshad Barot Kelvin Arthur (EB) Calherbe Monel (A) Ron Lewis Francina Harrison Frances Thompson (EB) Kristine Caalim (A) Cuprice Anthony-Cox (A) Clarence Neely LaQuiche Parrott (SB) Rhonda Alexander (A) Jaketa Clark (A) Associate (EB) MBC Executive Board Members (SB) School Board Liaison

City Staff

Name Title Department Taylor Adams Director Department of Economic Development Rod Ingram Deputy City Attorney City Attorney’s Office Rebecca Kee Purchasing Agent Purchasing Division Keith Lee Minority Business Coordinator Purchasing Division Jeff Smith SWaM Business Development Manager Department of Economic Development Nikita Susens Minority Business Coordinator Assistant Purchasing Division Lavera Tolentino Minority Business Coordinator Purchasing Division Noelle Pinkard Financial Specialist Purchasing Division

Next Meeting February 12, 2021

For more information about the MBC go to http://www.vbgov.com/mbc

or

facebook. com/VAB. MBC

@myVBMBC

@myVBMBC

http://www.vbgov.com/mbc

Minority Business Council Minutes November 13, 2020

3:00 PM – 4:30 PM Virtual WebEx Meeting

This meeting of the Minority Business Council was held on the date and time mentioned above and was held by electronic means via WebEx videoconferencing because of the COVID-19 public health emergency.

Members:

Ms. Sheila Johnson, Chair Ms. Olga Torres, Vice Chair Mr. Kelvin Arthur, Financial Counselor Ms. Frances Thompson, Secretarial Officer Mr. Harshad Barot, member- absent Ms. Francina Harrison, member Mr. Ed Hopper, member Mr. Ron Lewis, member Mr. Clarence Neely, member Mr. Damen Watson, member Ms. Jaketa Clark, member Associates: Ms. Rhonda Alexander Ms. Cuprice Anthony-Cox- absent Ms., Kristine Caalim- absent Mr. Calherbe Monel- absent Liaisons: Mr. Louis Jones, City Council – absent Mr. Aaron Rouse, City Council Dr. LaQuiche Parrott - absent

Staff Members:

Mr. Taylor Adams, Director of Economic Development-absent Mr. Rod Ingram, Deputy City Attorney, City Attorney’s Office Ms. Rebecca Kee, Purchasing Agent, Purchasing Office Mr. Keith Lee, Minority Business Coordinator, SWaM Business Office Ms. Noelle Pinkard, Financial Specialist, Purchasing Mr. Jeff Smith, SWaM Business Development Manager, Economic Development-absent Ms. Nikita Susens. Minority Business Coordinator Assistant, SWaM Business Office Ms. Lavera Tolentino, Minority Business Coordinator, SWaM Business Office Recorder:

Ms. Nikita Susens Virtual meeting, no sign-in sheet.

Minority Business Council Minutes November 13, 2020

3:00 PM – 4:30 PM Virtual WebEx Meeting

Topic Discussion Action Items

Agenda Items Sheila Johnson

1) Call to Order and Welcome, Sheila Johnson.

1) Industry Hour – Bryan K. Stephens,

President & CEO, Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce

• Ms. Johnson called the meeting to order at 3:05 p.m. o Guests introductions. o MBC roll call. o October 9, 2020 meeting minutes

were approved. • Mr. Stephens gave an overview of

the goals, programs and services that the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce offers to its members and surrounding business community.

• Mr. Stephens specifically shared information about how his organization is currently working with other regional agencies on an action plan called 757 Recovery and Resilience Action Plan. The Chamber is projected to finalize the 757 Recovery and Resilience Action Plan in December 2020.

Outreach Committee Damen Watson

1) Outreach Report • Mr. Watson stated that the MBC has decided to postpone the November EXPO.

Minority Awareness Committee Frances Thompson

1) MAC Report • Ms. Thompson provided the MAC Report. (Attachment 1)

Data Collection and Analysis Olga Torres

1) Data and Analysis Report • Ms. Torres said are no award and expenditures amounts currently available to share at this time but that there are currently over 600 SWAM businesses registered in the City of Virginia Beach’s new Supplier Portal.

Policy Committee Kelvin Arthur

1) Policy Report

• Mr. Arthur had no formal report.

Minority Business Council Minutes November 13, 2020

3:00 PM – 4:30 PM Virtual WebEx Meeting

Other Business Sheila Johnson

1) 2020 Census Subcommittee Report- Olga Torres

2) Economic Development Report - Jeff

Smith

3) Minority Business Commission Report - Ed Hopper/ Damen Watson

4) Staff Report, Rebecca Kee

5) Other Business

• Ms. Torres shared that after August there are no reports given at the local level and that the only reports available are at the State level.

• Mr. Smith was absent; no report.

• Ms. Johnson shared thanked the various MBC Members that participated in the Economic Development Golf Tournament.

• Mr. Watson spoke to people in the Governor’s office and that there are still empty seats on the Minority Business Commission and is still not active.

• Ms. Kee reported that City Staff is working with Oracle implementors to streamline the system’s ability to pull information in reference to the Ordinances passed by City Council.

• Ms. Kee reported that the City of Virginia Beach has identified:

o Sheltered bidding had 28 solicitations identified

o Enhanced Contracting had 9 solicitations identified

o Project Goals had 1 solicitation identified

• Ms. Johnson presented Ms. Clark with her letter from Volunteer Services.

Liaison Reports Sheila Johnson

1) City Council Members: Councilman Rouse Councilman Jones

2) School Board Liaison: Dr. LaQuiche Parrott

• Councilmember Rouse shared a resolution requesting the creation of a single mobile portal for City Services. (Attachment 2)

• Councilman Rouse asks MBC Members to be a part of the BETA testing of the new mobile portal.

• Dr. Parrott was absent, no report given.

Adjournment Meeting adjourned at 4:15 p.m.

Minority Awareness Committee Report – November 13, 2020

Report Presented By: Frances Knight Thompson, Chair Committee Members: Francina Harrison, Rhonda Alexander, Harshad Barot, Olga Torres, and Jaketa Clark Thompson, Hannah Francis (Jr. Associate)

Meeting Date and Time: Tuesday, November 10, 2020 at 3:00 p.m. (virtual meeting via Zoom)

Social Media Presence: (As of November 10, 2020)

(Managed and maintained by Jaketa Clark Thompson, assisted by Hannah Francis, Jr. Associate)

• Facebook Page (www.facebook.com/VBMBC/)

o 1,589 Likes - added 8 new likes since October; page reached 495 people in last 28 days; 1,784 peoplefollow the FB page

• Twitter (@myVBMBC)

o 90 followers

• Instagram (@myVBMBC)o 357 followers - 5 new followers this month

Strategies

• VB MBC collaboration with Kempsville High School and the Entrepreneurship and Business Academy

o MAC is happy to welcome Miss Hannah Francis who was approved as our first Junior Associate.Hannah will assist Jaketa with our Social Media accounts and provide support for the SWaM BusinessOffice. Hannah will also be our liaison with the KHS EBA to share information about programs and

events being sponsored by the VB MBC and the SWaM Business Office.o We have reached out to the EBA administrators to recommend another student to join us as a Junior

Associate.

• Overview of MAC Goalso During our meeting this month, we briefly discussed strategies to support our goals, specifically goal 2

and goal 3. Several ideas were shared that will promote deeper engagement with our social mediaconnections and with the general public. We are in the process of reviewing the survey data from the

2016-2019 VB MBC Expos. The data has been provided and we will review the data to determine howwe may engage those who attended as well as explore ways that we may interact with the currentfollowers on our social media sites. Additional information will be forthcoming.

o We discussed the possibility of providing a virtual expo event as an option to continue to connect withsmall business owners in our city. This concept will be presented to the MBC executive committee forconsideration.

o VB MBC MAC would like to promote cultural awareness and appreciation within the businesscommunity. We are in the process of developing meaningful ways to accomplish this goal. This will

also be presented to the MBC executive committee for input and approval.(Goal 4)

2020-2021 Specific Goals for MAC (VB MBC By-Laws adopted 2010) 1. Create forums for discussion and development of the awareness of SWaM businesses and the procurement

process

2. Create initiatives that develop and implement marketing and communication programs3. Coordinate media communications and advertising activities necessary to brand the overall image of MBC4. Help to promote diversity within the business community while monitoring new and current business and

economic development within the city

Thank you to the MAC committee members who attended the meeting this month, and a special thank you to Lavera Tolentino, Keith Lee and Nikita Susens, our MBC liaison, and staff, for their continued support and collaboration.

Respectfully submitted, Frances Knight Thompson, M. S. Ed.

VB MBC MAC Chair

2019 MBC Conference and Expo Evaluations Total Evaluations: 47

1. How did you learn about this event?Media 3 Friend, family, or business associate 12 Internet (MBC or vb.gov website 7 Email 7 Facebook 9 Twitter LinkedIn Instagram 1

Other

MBC invite, Lavera, vendor knowledge, 6 SBI, someone from the mount, UTOPIA Feni Gallery, past attendee,

2. Is your business SWAM Certified?Yes 16 No 29

more information requested 11 N/a 2

3. Are you a first-time participant at this event?yes 34 no 13

4. How would you rate the overall quality of the MBC Expo?Excellent 42 Good 5 Fair 0

5. How can the MBC be of more value to your business?

Continue to invite out, training, interested in Institute, more vendors, Direct Contact with procurement opportunities, updates on vending contracts, continue to advertise events such as this to me, procurement opportunities, wants tax relief in first 3 years of business, more opportunities geared towards fashion and culture, continue to share small business resources, networking, conferences on business formation, adding smaller breakout sessions (how to register for procurement, getting swam certified), need commercial/business insurance representatives for bonding, promotions, info to assist me with bettering business and linking with the community, networking with others for collaborative events, giving connections to succeed, networking to get name out to the community

6. Did you find today's speakers and topics interesting?Yes 45 No 0

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Agenda 01.08.21.pdfMBC Vision:   To be the leading influence in connecting contractor resources with city opportunities and beyond.MBC Mission:  Advance and facilitate an environment of business opportunities, focusing on increasing expenditures to minority and women-owned businesses by the City of Virginia Beach as a means to further the City’s economic development and vitality.NameAgenda ItemMinutes

Draft Agenda Package January 8, 2021.pdf11.13.20.pdfMinority Awareness_REPORT NOVEMBER 2020.pdfResolution Mobile Portal 11.13.20.pdf