By: Ron Busby, President U.S. Black Chambers of Commerce

It appears that the exodus of the Obama Administration officials has begun, and the first two announcements have serious implications for the work we do.

When Eric Holder recently announced his resignation as U.S. Attorney General, most of the chatter focused on the usual Tea Party opinion. As the leading advocate for the interests of Black-owned businesses, the U.S. Black Chambers of Commerce (USBC) is concerned that Holder’s departure leaves Black-owned businesses without a champion in the nation’s law-enforcement division.

As we witness the continued downward spiral in the number of contracts awarded to Black-owned businesses, Holder’s announcement couldn’t have come at a worse time. When you add in the departure of Dr. Winslow Sargeant, Chief Counsel for Advocacy at the SBA, it causes us to change the way we approach our work.

To put this all into perspective, let me give you a peek behind the curtain of USBC: Many of you are familiar with our game-changing School of Chamber and Business Management and our quarterly Solutions Series workshops held in various cities across the country. You may have seen or noted our presence at various functions including banquets, luncheons, golf outings, etc., but that’s not what we DO!

What we do is advocate and press for change. Change in the way government agencies and corporations buy goods and services. Change in the way we grow our businesses. Change in the way we spend our money.

In more cases than not, challenges to the spending patterns of government agencies, in this case, will eventually result in a challenge to the legality of those practices. When the nation’s top lawyer departs, it leaves a question as to how vigorously the Administration will pursue claims that federal procurement practices disastrously and illegally impact Black-owned businesses. It’s not pretty work. It is not fun work. But, it’s the work we signed up to do on behalf of Black businesses nationwide. Attorney General Holder was reliably firm when it came to pursuing issues important to our work. Until his successor is named, we are left guessing whether the next Attorney General will continue that supportive focus.

According to the SBA, the Chief Counsel for Advocacy conducts research on the U.S. small business sector, advocates for small businesses within the federal government’s agencies and rulemaking processes, conducts outreach to regional and state small business advocates and policymakers and fosters public awareness of small business contributions and concerns. Dr. Winslow Sargeant did all of that and more during his tenure as Chief Advocate.

From the moment of his appointment Dr. Sargeant opened his door to us and offered his wisdom as we pushed for policies that increased opportunities for Black businesses. Without his support (and that of Marie Johns) the federal Quick Pay regulation would not have been enacted. And while it may seem insignificant to some, if a small business owner can be assured that he or she will be paid within 15 days, it is HUGE.

But, let me show you how these two moves in the Administration affect us. The Attorney General is the chief law enforcement officer, right? The Chief Counsel for Advocacy has an important piece of his work devoted to “advocacy for small businesses within the federal government’s agencies and rulemaking processes…”

The rulemaking process determines the interpretation of legislation that has been passed, and most importantly how the statues will be enforced. So when we lost both, the person interpreting the laws impacting Black businesses and the person enforcing those laws, it’s fair to say that everything has changed about the way we go about our work!

We will continue to attend the banquets, luncheons, workshops, press conferences, etc…which appear to represent the sum total of what do, but believe me, we recognize the work you have entrusted to us has just gotten more difficult.