Brunswick County Board of Commissioners votes to form new Small Business Advisory Commission

By Frank Williams | January 22, 2013 | Comments Off on Brunswick County Board of Commissioners votes to form new Small Business Advisory Commission

BOLIVIA, N.C. – The Brunswick County Board of Commissioners unanimously voted to form a new Small Business Advisory Commission at its meeting on Tuesday, January 22, 2013. 

“Small businesses are the backbone of our economy, and we created this commission to ensure that Brunswick County’s small business community has a strong voice,” said Commissioner Frank Williams, who drafted the proposal to create the commission.  “A strong local economy must be built on private sector jobs, not government jobs.  Government’s role is to foster an environment in which small businesses, entrepreneurs and family farmers can work hard, thrive and prosper.”

“We must maintain a culture in which government views businesses as partners, not adversaries,” Williams added.  “No matter how well we are doing, we should always be looking for ways to improve.  The formation of the Brunswick County Small Business Advisory Commission is a pro-active step toward ensuring that our ordinances and policies are clear, predictable, reasonable and that they are applied consistently.”

According to Williams, the idea to create the Brunswick County Small Business Advisory Commission came from feedback he and other commissioners have received from the business community. 

The commission is a 23-member advisory board with representation from various business groups and key economic sectors.  The commission’s membership structure includes:

  • Brunswick County Economic Development Director
  • One representative from the Brunswick County Economic Development Commission board
  • One representative from the Brunswick County Economic Development Foundation
  • One representative of an existing industry in Brunswick County with fewer than 100 employees
  • One representative of an existing industry in Brunswick County with 100 or more employees
  • Brunswick Community College Small Business Center Director
  • President / CEO of the Brunswick County Chamber of Commerce
  • One member of the Brunswick County Chamber of Commerce board of directors
  • Executive Director of the North Brunswick Chamber of Commerce
  • One member of the North Brunswick Chamber of Commerce board of directors
  • Executive Vice President of the Southport-Oak Island Chamber of Commerce
  • One member of the Southport-Oak Island Chamber of Commerce board of directors
  • One representative of the soon-to-be-formed Bald Head Island Chamber of Commerce
  • One representative of the residential real estate industry
  • One representative of the commercial real estate industry
  • One representative of the construction/homebuilding industry
  • One representative of the agriculture/agribusiness community
  • One representative of the tourism industry
  • One representative of the retail sector
  • One Professional Civil Engineer or Environmental Engineer (PE) who does business in Brunswick County and is not a full-time employee of any governmental entity
  • One representative of the restaurant/hospitality industry
  • Two at-large members.

Citizens interested in serving on county boards are encouraged to submit a board application, which can be found by clicking here.

Posted in Economy, News, Small Business