Legislative review committee to present reviews of SBSD, regional and infrastructure incentives

The Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission will meet virtually on Monday Sept. 14 to hear staff present findings and recommendations from reviews of the Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity and the state’s regional and infrastructure economic development incentives.

JLARC also will hold a study topic selection subcommittee meeting on Friday, Sept. 11 at 10 a.m.

The subcommittee will select future JLARC study topics.

Both meetings will be available to view live on JLARC’s YouTube channel.

Reports will be uploaded to JLARC’s website (jlarc.virginia.gov/calendar.asp) following the presentations.

Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity

The General Assembly created SBSD in 2014 by merging the Department of Business Assistance and the Department of Minority Business Enterprise. The Virginia Small Business Financing Authority (VSBFA) also became part of SBSD. SBSD administers the state’s small, women-owned, and minority-owned (SWaM) business certification and federal disadvantaged business enterprise (DBE) certification programs; provides business technical assistance; and offers direct and support loans to businesses through VSBFA.

The JLARC study team compared Virginia’s small business definition to the federal government and other states; assessed the design and administration of SBSD’s business certification and technical assistance programs; reviewed VSBFA’s financing programs; and reviewed how effectively and efficiently SBSD is managed and staffed.

Regional and infrastructure economic development incentives

The Appropriation Act directs JLARC to review and evaluate economic development incentives on an ongoing basis. Each year JLARC conducts in-depth studies on the effectiveness and economic benefits of selected economic development incentives.

This year, JLARC evaluated the state’s 10 regional and infrastructure incentives. The incentives evaluated include coal-related tax credits, two grants administered by the Tobacco Commission, Enterprise Zone grants, transportation grants, and the Virginia Business Ready Sites Program. JLARC contracted with the University of Virginia’s Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service to perform the evaluation.