Columbia soon may create its own committee to make sure small businesses aren’t burdened by city regulations.

Mayor Bob Cobleannounced plans Tuesday to create the committee, patterned after a similar effort at the state level.The City Council will consider the proposal Aug. 25. If approved, the committee could be up and running by Oct. 1, Coble said.

“We must do more to encourage small business development in Columbia,” he said.

In May, Gov. Mark Sanford signed a bill that aims to ease regulatory burdens faced by small businesses in South Carolina.

The Small Business Regulatory Flexibility Act, which will go into effective Jan. 1, establishes an 11-member committee that will determine the impact of regulations on small businesses in South Carolina.

Under that law, lawmakers must submit their regulation proposals to the committee before presenting them to the General Assembly. The committee cannot block new regulations but can recommend changes to them.

Appointments to the state committee have to be made within 60 days of the bill’s effective date, said Will Folks, spokesman for the governor. Sanford is looking for people to appoint, Folks said.

The idea to help small businesses was one of several that Coble pitched Tuesday to help the city attract jobs.

City officials will travel to Boise, Idaho next month to see how that city has created jobs.

A recommendation made at Columbia’s June jobs summit called for officials to identify and study a city with an economy that is successful and similar to Columbia’s, Coble said.

Officials chose Idaho’s capital city from several options, including a suburb of Los Angeles, he said.

Columbia’s jobs picture is improving, Coble said, citing a recent report by Global Insight that was released during the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

According to the report, Columbia ranked 42 out of 318 metropolitan areas for number of jobs created from December 2003 to April 2004.

Columbia ranked 63 out of 318 for projected job growth in 2005 and 2006, the report says.

“Clearly, we are making progress in job creation and a stronger economy, but we are not satisfied where we are,” Coble said.

Coble also said city officials will travel to Germany in October to recruit businesses to the area. The group will visit Berlin, Munich, Dresden and Chemnitz.

The annual trip is scheduled for Oct. 11 through Oct. 15.

Reach Sand at (803) 771-8328 or psand@thestate.com.