Austin - State Senator Royce West, (D-Dallas), has arranged a meeting of the Texas Association of African-American Chambers of Commerce (TAAAC), and the Texas Association of Mexican-American Chambers of Commerce (TAMACC), will meet on Tuesday, February 2, 1999 at 2:30 p.m., with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation, and the University of Texas at Austin, to collectively sign a Memorandum of Cooperation Agreement.

The purpose of this "good faith"Agreement is to create a mutually beneficial relationship between the aforementioned agencies and organizations, which will encourage and assist the development of Historically Underutilized Businesses (HUBs) within the State of Texas. Furthermore, the Agreement is intended to facilitate the accessibility of information regarding the purchasing procedures and HUB programs of the involved agencies, to TAMACC and TAAACC, as well as their member Chambers of Commerce.

Senator West stated that he is "pleased" that the aforementioned state agencies, which have historically performed poorly in their procurement of state contracts with HUBs, "have become more proactive in their efforts to increase the number of contracts with minority vendors that are certified with the state as HUBs."

Senator West, who lead the initiative to create the Memorandum of Cooperation Agreement with the involved parties, went on to say that, "in order for the state's HUB program to become more effective, there needs to be a more concerted effort by both state agencies and organizations such as TAAACC, and TAMACC, to disseminate information and provide resources to HUBS. The resulting relationships are not only beneficial to HUBs, but are equally beneficial to the state and ultimately the economy."

The General Services Commission, which administers the state's HUB program, is also expected to have representatives present at the signing ceremony which will be in Senate Media, Room 2E.9 of the Capitol Building.

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