Set-asides, preferences, HUBzones and 8a
My business is Ohio EDGE certified, HUBzone certified and an SDVOB. For all that, it’s not done much to help acquire government business. Most of you have no idea what any of that means- and it’s just as well. Not only does doing business with the government require a whole new set of skills and the learning of a new language: govspeak. What takes 4-6 pages to do business in the real world, becomes a 150-page proposal when dealing with the government.
So when the City decides to start creating its own set of preferences for awarding contracts, we get one more set of hoops to jump through and another language to learn:
Key features of the revised Procurement Enhancement Program include:
* Sets annual goals for awarding construction projects — 17 percent for minority businesses, 5 percent for female businesses and 20 percent for small businesses — and all other city contracts out for bid.
* Establishes a local preference for hiring businesses in the city first and county second.
* Helps local minority, female and small businesses get certified for inclusion in the program, provides them with technical assistance and conducts outreach to improve their chances in the city’s bidding process.
* Requires a good-faith effort from major contractors to partner with local minority and female businesses before bidding on contracts.
* Tracks the effectiveness of the program by reviewing the monthly data on spending with minority, female and small businesses.
via City wants more participation from female, minority businesses.
Of course, Greg and I have something to say about all this-so you have a short post and a video to comment on.
Enjoy!
Yes, I am truly tired of attending “SBA” meetings because those giving the seminars “admit” that the percentage set asides are there in ‘writing’ but there are no guarantees, despite business’ capability and expertise–no one, as the guys from GrassrootsDayton reiterate, is being held accountable–that’s why you can have a town where the minority population is greater than 40%, but less than 1% of SBA funding goes toward minority business…and THAT percent is of “volunteer” minorities (i.e., those “NOT” historically placed here due to the majorities forced use and purpose.) Wow.
It’s interesting, disappointing and everything else. (I continue to smile at comments made about the inabilities of my African-American brothers and sisters to successfully run business, when daily, businesses [specifcally those of my counterparts who “somehow” received hundreds of thousands of government dollars to ‘open’], close, after having raped the state of funding, their supplies and equipment sold for pennies! Great use of the funding that Obama put out there in good faith that it would actually ‘create jobs’. (YOU SHOULD BE JAILED!)
Oh, too, equally responsible: thank you so much, persons hired (within government) to do work with integrity, to help fail a system which was destined to fail from the onset, because many of you (if not “most”) didn’t intend its success in the first place, sadly. May ‘you’ continue to reap a paycheck for the role you play.
I find it laughable. Until I see more companies receiving contracts on the merit of their capabilities, by welcoming offices; until I see more dollars awarded to ‘real’ minorities to enable expansion, advertising, equipment upgrades, hiring of competent staff, etc, I’ll continue to understand that society is still stuck somewhere between 1776-1926. Dayton is a beautiful town, but has serious issues, sadly.
@Marchia BRAVO!