Sept - Oct 2020 | Insights to Opportunity
www.houstontx.gov/obo | Page 3
on a project are added in good faith, with payments and various contractual obligations upheld, allowing those small businesses to obtain capital for them to grow.
EMPLOYEE SPOTLIGHT: DONALD BLACK By: Enzo Mungu
Q
What is your favorite part of working for OBO?
The Office of Business Opportunity (OBO) prides itself for having a very dynamic workforce. This department employs seasoned public service employees and those who are at the very beginning of their careers. This combination of experience and fresh ideas allows OBO to advance its mission to serve the small business community. Donald Black, a senior business development coordinator in the Contract Compliance division, has been with OBO for 14 years. With his experience, Black has a wealth of knowledge which he is always willing to share either by assisting management and his peers, or in meetings with contractors and community members. In a recent interview, Donald shared his thoughts about his time at OBO and life outside of the office.
Q
How does what you do impact the small business community?
A: With a great number of small businesses in the construction, supplier, and professional services arena, we work to connect small businesses to larger general contractors to provide services on projects that have minority participation goals. We also work with those without such goals so small businesses are involved in achieving the finished product. Also, we ensure small businesses added
A: There are several: it’s seeing the progress made by small businesses, inlcuding those who have just gotten their first City contract and have taken advanatange of the various resources OBO has available for small business owners, including coaching; being able to contribute to the growth of the City’s economy by means of ensuring small businesses receive fair treatment when put on contracts through OBO’s compliance program and understanding OBO plays a major role in the City’s contracting process; and having to work with a diverse group of individuals both within OBO and the City at large is a delight.
Q
What advice would you give to a small business newly stepping into the arena of doing busines with the City? Go to BLACK, page 6
Small Businesses Can Explore Ways to Grow Globally By: Niyonsaba Magnifique
T
he Office of Business Opportunity is committed to assisting small businesses grow domestically and internationally. As a part of OBO’s annual resources forum on exporting, on Oct. 20, OBO partnered with the Small Business Administration (SBA) to host a webinar that covered the basics of exporting and international trade. Featuring guest speaker Sonia Maldonado, district international trade officer for the SBA, the webinar aimed to equip small business entrepreneurs with knowledge about how to export their products and services to other countries, how to expand their markets, and how to increase sales and profitability. According to the SBA, two-thirds of the world’s purchasing power is in foreign countries, and there are many resources that help small business owners to expand their businesses globally. These
resources help assess a company’s readiness to export, assist with creating exporting business plans, and provide guidance on how to obtain funding and exporting licenses. If a company wants to grow internationally, one of the first steps is to assess its viability as expansion to a global market should not negatively affect the performance of the domestic business. The International Trade Administration provides an online assessment tool for business owners to determine if they are ready to start exporting. The free resource can be found by visiting www.trade.gov/exporter-assessments. Once a business owner determines that their company is equipped to start exporting, Maldonado recommends that “they do their homework” and create an exporting business plan that outlines where and how they will export. For help in this area, there are many organizations
that offer business coaching and training on exporting strategies. In Houston, some of these organizations include SCORE Houston, the University of Houston Small Business Development Center, and Women’s Business Enterprise Alliance. These entities have business advisors that offer one-on-one mentoring sessions to help small business owners prepare to export strategically. When it comes to selecting a country to export to, Ms. Maldonado said business owners can invest in conducting foreign market research. The U.S. Commercial Service, the trade promotion arm of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration, assists business owners in conducting foreign market research in specific countries and industries. Although there is a fee associated with the service, Maldonado advised business owners to treat it as an investment that is going to yield returns. Go to EXPORT, page 7
