“The Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce is prepared to adopt this process,” said Dayton Mayor Jeffrey Mims Jr. “We will continue to work in partnership with them, and it would basically allow us to raise funds here locally and to focus primarily on Dayton, which in fact would strengthen the relationship with our ... minority businesses.”
Commissioners Darryl Fairchild and Shenise Turner-Sloss said the city is making a mistake.
Dayton’s Human Relations Council “was created to address inequities in housing, employment, business opportunities and access to capital and finance,” Fairchild said. “That’s not the chamber’s mission ... they just have different priorities, that’s neither right or wrong, but it’s not the same.”
Dayton’s Human Relations Council for decades has housed one of the state’s seven minority business assistance centers, which are supposed to help minority and socially and economically disadvantaged businesses, according to city leaders.
The centers offer technical and professional assistance, which includes help with accounting, marketing plans, contract procurement, business management and accessing local resources and financial support.
The local center offers free assistance to minorities, women and small businesses in Montgomery, Greene, Miami, Clark, Champaign, Darke, Preble, Mercer, Auglaize, Shelby, Logan and Madison counties.
But the city of Dayton is not going to apply for state grant money to continue to fund the minority business assistance center in upcoming years. The deadline to apply for state money is Friday.
Mayor Mims said the state has reduced the funding available to the city of Dayton to pay for the assistance center.
The city would have to spend about $400,000 over two years to receive $400,000 in state support to become a Tier 2 MBAC provider, city officials said.
The city says the state grant requires Tier 2 providers to have four full-time equivalent employees. In the previous grant cycle, the state required two employees.
The mayor and Dayton City Commissioners Chris Shaw and Matt Joseph said during Wednesday’s city commission meeting that they think it makes more sense for the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce to be in charge of the center.
The chamber already serves businesses in 14 counties, including 10 of the 12 counties that the regional MBAC currently covers.
Belinda Matthews-Stenson, vice president of business inclusion at the Dayton Chamber, said the city’s MBAC has been “a great partner” with the Chamber’s Minority Business Partnership.
“With this application process, we are working on a Tier 2 MBAC proposal that will best serve minority businesses in the region,” Matthews-Stenson said. “If selected, we intend to work closely with our partners at the city of Dayton to ensure all businesses are served.”
Shaw said the program is not going away and the services will remain the same.
He said this change would allow the city to put more resources into the Human Relations Council to help pay for enforcing compliance with its procurement enhancement program.
“I think this is the right thing to do and I don’t think it takes away anything from our residents — in fact I think it strengthens our hand in terms of the minority business assistance space,” Shaw said.
Turner-Sloss said the city is leaving state money on the table while also doing a disservice to its minority businesses by not covering the cost of the 25% local matching grant.
She said the city recently approved giving the Dayton Arcade developers a $2 million forgivable loan and the commission this week approved $334,000 in funding for two public toilets.
Turner-Sloss said the city also is ignoring the recommendation of Erica Fields, the executive director of the Human Relations Council. Fields recommended the city apply to be a Tier 2 MBAC provider.
Fairchild said he does not understand why the city is not listening to Fields, who is the content expert on this matter, and expressed concerns about the transparency of the process.
He said the decision impacts the city’s budget and hundreds of businesses the city has relationships with, and yet this change is taking place without the input of the community or the business community.
Wednesday’s commission meeting was contentious at times. The commission took an hour-long recess so members could consult with city staff and talk things over.
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