- Christopher Barstow
- Wednesday, October 11, 2023
1 Please tell us a little about yourself and what you do at the Richland County Office of Small Business Opportunity? My name is Pam Green, I am part of the management team with RC OSBO. I help assist the County, not only in achieving its vision and mission, but in continuing to develop the vision for the Office of Small Business Opportunity. I oversee and manage planning and development processes for OSBO programs, various internal and external initiatives, activities and programming necessary to establish and maintain the County’s roles in serving the small business community.
2. What services does your agency offer small businesses and what are the costs involved? No cost for our services. We certify small local business enterprises (SLBE) in the areas of Construction, Architecture, Professional Services, Non-Professional Services, Engineering and Wholesale. We provide business workshops and technical training and advocate for small businesses for County contracts with Richland County.
3. What are the benefits of using your services vs. going it on your own? Free workshops, and small business advocacy
4. Is every business eligible to get the Small Local Business Enterprise Certification (SLBE)? Your business must be located in Richland County, or employ 25% of RC residents, independently owned and operated, meet revenue and employee thresholds
5. What are the benefits of getting a SLBE certification? SLBEs become a part of a business database, business networking, workshops, training, contracting possibilities
6. If someone has trouble filling out a portion of the SLBE Certification Application, can someone at your office help them with that? Absolutely, we are more than willing to schedule an appointment
7. Are there additional small business certifications for women, minorities or veterans? Not at this time
8. About how many small businesses are currently using your services? We see hundreds of small businesses at outreach events and our workshop academy
9. If the owner of a small business is not familiar with contracting/biding, can someone at your agency help bring them up to speed? We will connect them with the proper resource
10. If a business owner wants to contact you, what is the best way to do that? Office 803.576.1540 or osbo@richlandcountysc.gov
11. Is there anything else you would like to share about your agency with small business owners? We are actively recruiting small businesses countywide for certification to increase the vendor pool