Disparity Reduction Through Construction Contracting

About the Program

Category: Community and Economic Development (Best in Category)

Year: 2020

Hennepin County Administration challenged all departments to identify ways our work can reducedisparities in the community. Facility Services and Purchasing and Contract Services identified anopportunity to reduce disparities by increasing small business opportunities while simultaneouslyrecognizing and addressing the steep learning curve experienced by small business owners. From pastefforts, we knew that simply awarding contracts did not equal success for the contractors or the county.Instead, awarding contracts while simultaneously providing support to help the businesses succeedgenerated great success. This is the approach we utilize today.Our initial step was to actively work to understand the strengths, capabilities, and capacity of the smallbusinesses in our marketplace. We now identify and package work that is aligned with the expertise,availability and capacity of the businesses in our community. We also looked inward and recognized thatdoing business with us was not easy; there was a lot of paperwork, rules, and steps required. Inresponse, we developed processes that are simple and clear, and we continuously improve thesethrough shared experiences and feedback. Our goal is for businesses to gain experience with the countyin a way that allows them to leverage that experience to further grow and develop.We developed two procurement programs, called Tier 1 and Tier 2 programs. We started by developingthe Tier 1 program, which focuses on projects geared towards preserving the county’s building andproperty assets. The results: In May of 2019, we issued 11 contracts that are aligned with individualbuilding portfolios. As of February 2020, we have issued $740,000 in purchase orders. This was followedby the Tier 2 program, rolled out in September 2019, which is comprised of seven small generalcontractors who bid against each other on county work. As of February 2020, 4 contracts have beenawarded for a total of $703,000.