GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1993

S	1 

SENATE BILL 505

Short Title:  Comm. Colleges Study Economic Dev.	(Public)
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Sponsors: Senator Perdue.
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Referred to:  Education/Higher Education.
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March 18, 1993

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO DIRECT THE STATE BOARD OF COMMUNITY COLLEGES TO STUDY ITS SMALL BUSINESS CENTERS PROGRAM TO DETERMINE HOW TO PROVIDE FOR MORE EFFECTIVE DELIVERY OF PROGRAM SERVICES.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  The General Assembly finds that:
(1)	The North Carolina Community College System administers four programs related to economic development, as follows:
a.	Focused Industrial Training (FIT), a program that provides development and delivery of customized training programs to skilled and semi-skilled workers.
b.	New and Expanding Industries, a program that provides job training to specific companies as part of a State effort to attract and retain industry.
c.	Small Business Centers, which provide one-on-one business counseling, seminars, workshops, business courses, referrals, literature, and learning materials to small businesses.
d.	Occupational Extension, which provides a range of instructional programs to community members.
(2)	There are currently 53 Small Business Centers at various community college campuses.
(3)	The Small Business Centers had a budget of two million six hundred thousand dollars ($2,600,000) for the 1991-92 fiscal year.
Sec. 2.  The State Board of Community Colleges shall, in consultation with the local boards of trustees of all affected community colleges and in consultation with the Economic Development Council created in G.S. 143B-434, study its Small Business Centers.  As part of this study, the State Board shall review the distribution of funds in the program, review program statistics to assess its effectiveness in assisting small businesses, and determine options for fund distribution to provide for more effective delivery of program services.  The State Board shall report to the General Assembly and the Joint Education Oversight Commission by July 1, 1994, on its findings.
Sec. 3.  This act is effective upon ratification.