Del. Jimmie Massey, R-Richmond, has introduced a bill that would abolish the Department of Business Assistance and transfer its functions to the Virginia Economic Development Partnership. There are good reasons to keep the two economic development entities separate, which makes me wonder if there’s some kind of hidden agenda behind the move.
Business Assistance runs a grab-bag of programs, mostly related to small business finance and small business assistance, that rightfully belongs in the portfolio of agencies under the Secretary of Commerce and Trade. The VEDP, by contrast, is set up as a quasi-independent authority with the sole focus of promoting Virginia outside the Commonwealth. Massie’s proposed transfer would effectively remove Business Assistance from the operational control of the Governor and create a mixed mission for VEDP.
What’s the point? I can’t imagine that VEDP asked for this expansion of its authority. It does a good job of industrial recruitment and, I would guess, would prefer to keep its focus unmuddled. There’s no obvious scandal or crisis driving this proposal. But the bill has several co-sponsors. Something must be going on. Anybody know?