Tennessee Code 12-3-1112 – Governor’s office of diversity business enterprises – Purpose – Small business liaison representative – Study of opportunities
(a) There is created the governor’s office of diversity business enterprises to administer this part. All positions, resources and functions of the governor’s office of diversity business enterprises existing within the department of general services shall be transferred to the procurement office on October 1, 2011.
Goods: means all personal property, including, but not limited to, supplies, equipment, materials, printing, and insurance. See Tennessee Code 12-3-201
Person: includes a corporation, firm, company or association. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
Procurement: means buying, purchasing, renting, leasing, or otherwise acquiring of any goods or services. See Tennessee Code 12-3-201
Procurement and contracting: means the procurement of equipment, supplies, personal services, professional services, consulting services, construction contracts, and architectural and engineering services. See Tennessee Code 12-3-1102
Representative: when applied to those who represent a decedent, includes executors and administrators, unless the context implies heirs and distributees. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
Services: means all services and agreements obligating the state, except services for highway and road improvements governed by title 54 and design and construction services governed by title 4, chapter 15. See Tennessee Code 12-3-201
Small business: means a business that is a continuing, independent, for profit business which performs a commercially useful function with residence in this state and has total gross receipts of not more than ten million dollars ($10,000,000) averaged over a three-year period or employs no more than ninety-nine (99) persons on a full-time basis. See Tennessee Code 12-3-1102
State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
State agency: means any department, office, institution of higher education, board, commission, or any other state agency that receives state funds. See Tennessee Code 12-3-1102
(b) The office of diversity business enterprises shall assist small businesses and businesses owned by minorities, women, service-disabled veterans, and persons with disabilities to develop into viable, successful businesses. This work shall include assisting these businesses to compete successfully for the state‘s expenditures for goods and services.(c) Each state agency shall designate a staff person as a small business liaison representative to the governor’s office of diversity business enterprises to coordinate the agency’s efforts to utilize small businesses and diversity business enterprises in their procurement and contracting opportunities.(d) After appointment of the chief procurement officer, such officer, in consultation with the department of general services and the department of economic and community development, shall study opportunities available to small businesses and diversity business enterprises in state contracting and the potential effect of enhancing such opportunities through utilization of monetary allowances. It is the legislative intent that such study shall, insofar as possible, assess the impact on small businesses and diversity business enterprises that would have occurred if monetary allowances of varying amounts had been available. Further, it is the legislative intent that such study shall estimate the costs to the state that would have resulted from such monetary allowances.(e) The small business advocate within the office of the comptroller of the treasury shall be qualified by training or relevant and recent experience in administering programs to encourage and enhance economic opportunities for minority-owned businesses, woman-owned businesses, service-disabled veteran-owned businesses, businesses owned by persons with disabilities, and small businesses. At least annually, the advocate shall attend training or other specialized instruction to enhance understanding of the particular obstacles impeding minority-owned businesses, woman-owned businesses, service-disabled veteran-owned businesses, businesses owned by persons with disabilities, and small businesses from normal entry into the economic mainstream. The training shall be provided by the governor’s office of diversity business enterprises in the normal course of business as part of the regular training program for state agencies. When the advocate position is filled by reassigning a current employee, such employee shall receive the requisite training prior to assuming advocate duties.(f) The office of diversity business enterprises shall publish an annual report listing each state department’s aspirational goals and achievements for businesses owned by minorities, women, persons with disabilities, and service-disabled veterans, as well as other small businesses. The report must be published on the office’s website.
