August 12, 2002 - The City Council
passed today, by a vote of 8 to 0, Mayor Nickels' proposal to create a Contracting Development
& Competitiveness Center. This new Center will provide assistance and training to small
businesses as well as women and minority-owned (WMBE) firms, and advocate on their behalf with
large prime contractors for the city. The Urban League has agreed to sponsor this center and
will operate it on the city's behalf.
"In this economy, we can't take a single job for granted. I'm
determined that we should help small businesses, especially minority- and women-owned
businesses, get the skills to survive and thrive," Nickels said.
Calling a severe decline in participation in city contracting
opportunities by women and minority-owned businesses "simply unacceptable," Mayor Nickels
unveiled major new efforts to increase their participation in the city's contracting projects
in July.
The legislation passed by the Council will provide $200,000 in
funding this year to create the Center. Funding will be made available by allocating the
costs to city departments based on their 2002 Capital Improvement Program appropriations.
The basis for the 2003 allocation will be proposed through the budget process this fall.
The Center is expected to cost the city approximately $400,000 a year to operate.
The Associated General Contractors of Washington, the
Associated Builders and Contractors of Western Washington, Community Capital Development,
and Turner Construction will serve as the Urban League's partners in creating the Center.
"I find it unacceptable that capable and available businesses
in our community, businesses that have previously performed work for the city, are no longer
participating in building our community. When the city spends millions of citizen tax dollars
every year acquiring goods and services to perform our public functions, it is critical that
local women and minority owned businesses have equal opportunities to participate in that
business activity. Small businesses form the backbone of our community," Nickels said.
Nickels also issued an executive order in July to city
department directors, instructing them to perform aggressive outreach to disadvantaged small
businesses, including women and minority-owned businesses, to increase the use of these firms
in all areas of city contracting, not just construction contracts.
Other elements of Nickels initiative include:
- Unbundling contracts and subcontracts to break them into smaller pieces
so that small firms and WMBEs can compete for them more effectively.
- Increasing outreach by directing purchasing and contracting staff to
aggressively enforce requirements that Seattle's prime contractors do outreach to minority
owned businesses for subcontracting.
|
