From a business perspective, here’s what the proposed changes mean, according to Fanburg:
APPLICATION PROCESS: New license applications will “require submission of evidence of community engagement and minority, women, and veteran participation in an ATC’s operations through ownership, management, and local hiring plans, and endorsements of community organizations,” states the regulations.
“Clearly ownership structure is a key component,” Fanburg said. “If we’re limiting the number of licenses then I think the way the department would be scoring these applications – they will look at to what extent is this licensee or prospective licensee minority owned, veteran, women and that will be part of the overall assessment that the department will take into consideration.
“I think the governor and the department are looking for meaningful involvement and opportunity for these three categories, not just tokenism.”