GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2001

SESSION LAW 2001-13
SENATE BILL 85

AN ACT to direct the department of commerce to encourage north carolina businesses to seek federal contracts with the department of defense and to coLLAbOrate with other government and nonprofit entities to develop a plan to effectively promote and market the department of defense as an industry in this state.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  Working Group. – The Secretary of Commerce shall convene a working group of interested parties knowledgeable in the different facets of doing business with the Department of Defense.  The working group must include representatives from the following government agencies and nonprofit organizations:  the Department of Commerce, the Community Colleges System, the Employment Security Commission, the Department of Administration, the Department of the Secretary of State, Concurrent Technologies Corporation, the Small Business Technology and Development Center, the Procurement Technical Assistance Center, the Governor's Advisory Commission on Military Affairs, the DoD Business Committee of the Governor's Advisory Commission on Military Affairs, and any other organization that the Department of Commerce or this working group may identify with an expertise in this area.
SECTION 2.  Meetings. – The Secretary of Commerce must convene the working group created in Section 1 of this act at least once quarterly.  The Secretary may chair the meetings or designate another member of the working group to chair the meetings.  
SECTION 3.  Goals and Objectives. – The working group created in Section 1 of this act is charged with the goal of increasing the amount of dollars from federal contracts paid to businesses in North Carolina and of utilizing the skilled workforce represented by the more than 17,000 service members which transition from active duty each year in North Carolina.  In fulfilling its goals, the working group should consider studies prepared by agencies and organizations in this area, including the studies prepared by the DoD Business Committee of the Governor's Advisory Commission on Military Affairs and by Concurrent Technologies Corporation.  To accomplish these goals, the working group should strive to meet the following objectives:
(1)	Investigate requirements for and establish a Single Point Registration for North Carolina vendors with automatic linked registration to DLIS Central Contractor Registration, VendorLink, and other established programs.
(2)	Coordinate within the various agencies and organizations that help North Carolina businesses obtain federal contracts to develop a unified approach to delivering these services in an efficient and effective manner.
(3)	Determine the gaps between government needs and industry capability and needs and develop an approach to encourage industry to utilize its capabilities to meet those government needs.
(4)	Complete a skills assessment program for transitioning Department of Defense personnel and develop a job placement database that may be used to promote this skilled workforce with industries that need employees with those particular skills.
(5)	Any other issue the working group determines needs to be addressed to meet its goals.
SECTION 4. Consultants. – The Department of Commerce may contract for consultant services as determined necessary by the working group.
SECTION 5. The Department of Commerce shall report on the progress of the working group to the Natural and Economic Resources‑Governmental Operations Subcommittee by April 2002 and by January 2003.
SECTION 6.  This act is effective when it becomes law and expires effective June 30, 2005.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 28th day of March, 2001.

	s/	 Beverly E. Perdue
	 President of the Senate

	s/	 James B. Black
	 Speaker of the House of Representatives

	s/	 Michael F. Easley
	 Governor

Approved 6:45 p.m. this 4th day of April, 2001