By Jackie Hardy
NDG Contributing Writer
According to a 2002 U.S. Census Bureau report, there are over 4.1 million minority-owned businesses (equates to 18 percent nationally) and an estimated 6.7 million women-owned businesses in the country (equates to 30 percent nationally).
In a 2005 Small Business Administration (SBA) publication, “Small Business Economy, A Report to the President,” reported minority–owned businesses continue to be an important part of the U.S. small business sector and minority-owned businesses hired more than 4.2 million employees nationally during 1997.
In January 2007 the City of Irving unanimously adopted a Minority and Women-owned Business Enterprise (M/WBE) Program because it recognized it was in the best interest for the City to stimulate the growth of small M/WBE in all phases of its procurement opportunities.
Ed Matthews, Purchasing Manager with the Intergovernmental Services Team, helps to oversee the operation of the M/WBE Program. Recently, the department hired Deborah McVean as the M/WBE Program Administrator, who will work to implement several initiatives defined by the department to ensure they are meeting their specific goals (see sidebar for specific short-term and long-term goals).
One important function of the M/WBE Program Administrator is to focus on developing strong relationships with M/WBE vendors and contractors. With over 10 years of experience in working with small and M/WBE businesses, McVean will be a valuable asset in helping the Program to build and maintain relationships.
“We are going back out there to redevelop relationships with various ethnic organizations and reaching out to those M/WBE vendors to not only improve relationships, but open the lines of communication.” states McVean.
In the past, the City of Irving has had to deal with the negative perception of non-inclusion felt by M/WBE vendors and contractors. The City of Irving is committed to creating an M/WBE Program that is offering sufficient knowledge of open bids and giving M/WBEs an equal opportunity to compete for all procurement opportunities.
“The City has not communicated their willingness to reach out to M/WBE vendors; therefore that non-inclusion perception still remains. The Irving Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (IHCC) is partnering with the City to develop an Outreach Program to assist them with developing a more comprehensive M/WBE Outreach Program.
The IHCC would like to see the City offer more outreach initiatives in the form of Open Houses, facilitating meetings to discuss open and upcoming City bids, and more advertisement in the minority media,” states Rene Castilla, Chairman of the IHCC Board of Directors.
The City measures its performance based on their key performance indicators of formally awarding 26 percent contract dollars to M/WBE vendors and increasing the number of vendors enrolled in their bidder notification database to 20 each month.
“There is no way of knowing how many total number of minorities have received contracts in comparison to those M/WBE firms who did not receive bid approval because the City does not provide that documentation to show a full breakdown of the M/WBE Programs overall progress; therefore, it is hard to give an overall assessment on the success of the Program,” explains Castilla.
In a written response Matthew states, “All projects require the awarded contractor to submit documentation of a ‘Good Faith Effort,’ to secure M/WBE participation as a part of the contract. On larger projects such as the construction of the new Irving Convention Center, The Burrell Group, (a consulting firm that assist organizations achieve its diversity and M/WBE goals), has been hired to track participation and ensure the prime contractor meets its commitments.”
According to the City of Irving’s website, Irving exceeded its 25.9 percent total number of bids allocated last year to 27 percent (see graph).
In comparison with other cities in the Metroplex like the City of Dallas, Irving has been unable to provide a detailed breakdown of dollars allocated to M/WBE’s.
The City of Dallas provided a breakdown of the total percentage of bids awarded to M/WBEs based on the following qualifiers: Total percentage of local M/WBE Firms; Total percentage of non-local M/WBE firms; and Combined (local and non-local) percentage of M/WBEs awarded contracts. See graph to view the City of Dallas overall performance for FY 2007-08 and 2008-09.
“We have recently seen a jump of percentage of bids and proposals received from M/WBE firms. The first couple of years we received about 17 to 18 percent and in the last six months that figure has jumped to about 30 percent. Much of the increase is due to the work of the M/WBE Program Administrator in seeking out firms to respond to specific solicitations, states Matthews.”
With Irving having several construction projects in the pipeline (Irving Convention Center, Dart Orange Line, and Heritage Crossing), the opportunities are vast for M/WBE vendors and contractors; however, awarding construction projects to M/WBE’s is not the main focus for the M/WBE Program, according to McVean.
“We want to focus more on service-oriented projects rather than short-term construction contracts. We want to award contracts that are annual and recurring because it provides a long-term relationship with the M/WBE vendors.”
“We believe we are taking the right steps to reach a positive outcome. We are focused on the feedback we receive from our community and our vendors in lieu of how we compare with other M/WBE programs within the Metroplex,” Matthew explains in a written response.
For more information about M/WBE Outreach Programs, please contact Deborah McVean at 972-721-3753 or visit the website at www.ci.irving.tx.us. For more information about IHCC and information on their partnership with the City of Irving to increase the M/WBE Outreach Programs, contact 972-721-2273 or visit the website at www.irvinghispanicchamber.org.
M/WBE vendors and contractors can contact the North Central Texas Regional Certification Agency (NCTRCA) regarding application for certification of their business with the City of Irving, City of Dallas, and other cities in the Metroplex. For more information, contact NCTRCA at 817-640-0606 or visit the website at www.nctrca.org.
Wow man, that is really helpful information, thanks.