In July, the North Carolina General Assembly passed a state budget. While there has been plenty of discussion around teacher pay raises and whether Charlotte will have to pay for canceling the I-77 toll lane project, not much has been said about the fact that the General Assembly quietly abolished the Department of Administration’s Office for Historically Underutilized Businesses (HUB).
I can still remember when I first got my HUB certification. I remember the feeling of pride when the letter came through. I was young, running my company out of determination and a dream. Then the state of North Carolina was telling me that my business counted for something, something larger than myself.
My company earned a spot on the same lists as firms with decades of history behind them. It didn’t feel like a formality; it felt like permission to dream bigger. I was officially recognized as a Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) by the state…