State DBE Procurement

Last week we were asked to report on the company’s sales to a large Midwestern state for the 1/1/2006 to 12/31/2008 time period.  The research company had been given the wrong mailing address, so we were a year late in responding.  In any case, it was a survey on the use of MWBE subcontractors.  Funny thing, they had all of our contracts from 1999 to very early 2006 jammed into this request making it seem as though we were a huge prime contractor and had no clue that we were a small DBE/WBE firm.  Our record keeping is consistently detailed, and we were able to determine every dollar they spent with us from 1999 to 2008, what subcontractors were used (including their DMWBE, Veteran and Disabled status) and how much each was paid.  Unfortunately, it wasn’t relevant to their study.  But, because we were required to participate, it led us to a web search for other DMWBE resource/usage studies.

The most fascinating to us, as a DMWBE supplier contracting with state governments, was the Insight Center for Community Economic Development’s Survey of State Inclusive Business Programs  … “The purpose of the Insight Center’s state policy scan of inclusive business programs is to promote policies and programs that enhance minority and women business development.”  Given that two or our recent posts talked about the benefits of diversity in procurement and defining diversity, their premise that … “M/WBE development builds intergenerational family assets, aids community reinvestment, creates jobs, adds to the tax base, and links communities of color to the regional economy.” … was music to our ears!

You can read the entire report at Insight’s CCED site: http://www.insightcced.org/communities/inbiz.html.  But, you may find the excerpt on DOT DBE Program and Goals most helpful in determining where your certifications will be recognized when marketing to state agencies: http://www.insightcced.org/index.php?page=dotdbegoals.  At this site, you can see how the state DOT organizations are performing against their DBE goals and learn how many firms are certified (high was California with 7500; Maryland 3700; Pennsylvania 1327; low was Nebraska 52).  The most recent reporting on state DBE goals is here: http://www.insightcced.org/communities/inbiz/dotdbegoals/fhwa-fy2008-dbe-contracting-by-state.html. And you can learn about procurement practices at county governments in the report posted here: http://www.insightcced.org/uploads/publications/assets/USCounties-bestpractices-supplierdiversity.pdf.

This is a website we plan to visit often, every time we update our marketing plans for pursuit of state government contracts.  Hope you’ll find it useful, too.