Advocacy
While you're running your business, we're in the rooms you can't always get to.
Advocacy at The Council happens behind the scenes, and that's by design. Our members shouldn't have to stop running their businesses to fight for fair market access. That's our job.
What Advocacy Looks Like
The Council advocates on multiple fronts simultaneously. We work with legislative bodies at the local, state, and national level to ensure that small businesses are visible and considered in policy decisions that affect them. We maintain relationships with mayors, city councils, state legislators, and federal representatives across North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia.
We also advocate inside corporate boardrooms. Our relationships with procurement executives mean that when a sourcing decision is being made, The Council-certified businesses are already top of mind.
Where We Show Up
State and local legislative sessions across the Carolinas and Virginia
National NMSDC policy and advocacy efforts
Corporate supplier development roundtables and procurement councils
Business chambers, SBA meetings, and community economic development forums
Industry conferences where procurement relationships are built
Why It Matters
Certification opens doors. Development builds capacity. Connection creates opportunity. But without advocacy, the structural barriers that limit small business access don't change.
The federal government's position on DEI and supplier diversity is shifting. We're actively navigating that landscape, making the case that small business development is an economic imperative, not a political one. We're focused on impact: creating wealth, driving competition, and strengthening communities.
That's part of why we now do business as The Council: the same mission and the same team, positioned for where things are headed.
We don't ask our members to lead that fight alone. We lead it with them.