In the new state budget, North Carolina lawmakers eliminated the Office for Historically Underutilized Businesses, or the HUB office.
The HUB office was created in 1999 to help underrepresented businesses owned by women, people of color, and veterans to compete for state contracts.
The HUB Office worked closely with more than 6,000 businesses. Many firms received business training, developmental resources, and were put on an easy-to-access database with other vendors, according to the North Carolina Department of Administration (NCDOA)…