Procurement Director makes strides to reach more minority-owned and female-owned companies with City opportunities
The City of West Palm Beach is inviting small business owners, especially minorities and women, to learn more about its efforts to do business with them.
Frank Hayden, the City’s Director of Procurement, held a free workshop on August 10 to outline how businesses can get certified and to explain new programs designed to encourage more engagement. He is actively reaching out to small business owners with his department’s new programs and goals.
The new programs include the Sheltered Market Program, bid equalization, the elimination of the Good Faith effort and new small business thresholds, all designed to create opportunities for business owners who want to pursue contracts with City. Hayden has set a goal to increase the number of small businesses certified by the City by 5 percent annually and to increase the number of dollars spent with certified businesses by 5 percent annually, as well.
“Our first goal is to grow the City’s database of qualified small businesses certified to work with West Palm Beach. We’ve streamlined the paperwork to make it simpler and less time-intensive,” Hayden said. “Once certified, business owners are strongly urged to attend one of our workshops or contact my department to learn how the Sheltered Market, bid equalization and small business thresholds work for them.”
For example, the Sheltered Market program is created for only certified small business enterprises (SBEs) to be able to bid on contract opportunities valued at $500,000 or less. The ‘shelter’ allows SBEs to compete against each other instead of larger enterprises.
Bid equalization enables certified SBEs to compete with non-certified SBEs. If a bid by a certified SBE is within 10 percent of a bid by a non-certified SBE, the City can make the award to the certified SBE, even though its bid could be up to 10 percent higher, Hayden said. The City has also eliminated the Good Faith Effort, which created a loophole for larger enterprises to avoid awarding a percentage of their subcontract work to SBEs.
To assist small business owners through the process of becoming certified, the City is working with Paragon (www.paragonfl.org), which provides hands-on help with completing required paperwork and education on how to properly submit a bid.
The City of West Palm Beach Procurement Department offers opportunities for all suppliers, including small businesses. It values business relationships and strive to promote fair and equitable treatment of all suppliers. To learn more about its procurement opportunities in the area of goods and services, construction and professional services, visit www.wpb.org/procurement or call 561-822-2100.
