Kalenna Ginyard

South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) will be hosting a DBE Outreach Event for Phase 3 of the Carolina Crossroads project.  Phase 3 of this project is the most expansive phase of the project.  This event will be for two days with the first day consisted of a virtual general session on Tuesday, August 29th from 4:00 - 6:00PM.  Day Two will be virtual or in-person one-on-one meetings on Wednesday, August 30th beginning at 9:00AM.…

According to Experience Columbia SC, visitation to the Columbia region increased from 15.1 million in 2021 to 15.8 million in 2022.  The 2022 numbers surpass pre-pandemic levels by four (4) percent.  The statistics also show that visitor spending in 2022 increased 12 percent over the previous year to $1.7 billion. generating a total economic impact of $2.6 billion in the Columbia region. To read more in this article, click here to go to the MidlandsBiz webpage!

The City of Columbia's Office of Business Opportunities will be hosting it's 10th Annual Small Business Week Conference on Friday, May 5, 2023 at the Medallion Conference Center!  This conference will be filled with breakout presentations, keynote speakers, and the U.S. Small Business Administration will host an awards ceremony and matchmaking session beginning at 12:30PM.  For more information, click on the link to go to our OBO's Eventbrite page!

Congratulations to Lasenta Lewis-Ellis of LLE Construction Group who was featured on News 19's "A Seat At The Table" on March 9th.  To read more and watch the interview, click on the following link to News 19's webpage!

The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs are highly competitive programs that encourage domestic small businesses to engage in Federal Research/Research and Development (R/R&D) with the potential for commercialization.  To read more on these programs, click the link to the SBIR webpage!

According to SCORE, it's been a few good years for African American owned businesses in the United States.  70 percent of African American small business owners are "very happy" or "somewhat happy" with the state of their small businesses.  To read more, go to the SCORE blog post!

On January 9, 2023, the Biden-Harris Administration will begin accepting applications for the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Veteran Small Business Certification program (VetCert).  SBA's new Veteran small business certification program is designed with the commitment to deliver exceptional support for skilled entrepreneurs from our military community.  To read more about this, and for more information on applying, click here to be redirected to SBA's press release page!

The South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) will host three (3) public participation meetings to discuss and provide feedback on the establishment of the Federal Fiscal Years 2024-2026 Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) goals for both Federal Highway Administration and Federal Transit Administration projects.  These meetings are held to obtain information that may affect SCDOT's DBE goal on federal contract awards between October 1, 2023 through September 30, 2026.  The public participation meeting for the Columbia,…