MBEWBE/Small Business Enterprise Procurement Program Advisory Committee - Feb. 2, 2021
MBEWBE/Small Business Enterprise Procurement Program Advisory Committee Regular Meeting of the MBEWBE/Small Business Enterprise Procurement Program Advisory Committee - VIA VIDEOCONFERENCING
Versión en español a continuación. MBE/WBE and Small Business Enterprise Procurement Program Advisory Committee February 2, 2021 MBE/WBE and Small Business Enterprise Procurement Program Advisory Committee to be held February 2, 2021 with Social Distancing Modifications Public comment will be allowed via telephone; no in-person input will be allowed. All speakers must register in advance (February 1, 2021 by noon). All public comment will occur at the beginning of the meeting. To speak remotely at the February 2, 2021 MBE/WBE and Small Business Enterprise Procurement Program Advisory Committee Meeting, members of the public must: •Call or email the board liaison at Nakia James at (512) 974-9108 or nakia.james@austintexas.gov no later than noon, (the day before the meeting). The information required is the speaker name, item number(s) they wish to speak on, whether they are for/against/neutral, and a telephone number or email address. •Once a request to speak has been called in or emailed to the board liaison, residents will receive either an email or phone call providing the telephone number to call on the day of the scheduled meeting. •Speakers must call in at least 15 minutes prior to meeting start in order to speak, late callers will not be accepted and will not be able to speak. •Speakers will be placed in a queue until their time to speak. •Handouts or other information may be emailed to nakia.james@austintexas.gov by Noon the day before the scheduled meeting. This information will be provided to Board and Commission members in advance of the meeting. •If this meeting is broadcast live, residents may watch the meeting here: http://www.austintexas.gov/page/watch- atxn-live Reunión del MBE/WBE and Small Business Enterprise Procurement Program Advisory Committee FECHA de la reunion (February 2, 2021) La junta se llevará con modificaciones de distanciamiento social Se permitirán comentarios públicos por teléfono; no se permitirá ninguna entrada en persona. Todos los oradores deben registrarse con anticipación (February 1, 2021 antes del mediodía). Todos los comentarios públicos se producirán al comienzo de la reunión. Para hablar de forma remota en la reunión, los miembros del público deben: • Llame o envíe un correo electrónico al enlace de la junta en Nakia James at (512) 974-9108 or nakia.james@austintexas.gov a más tardar al mediodía (el día antes de la reunión). La información requerida es el nombre del orador, los números de artículo sobre los que desean hablar, si están a favor / en contra / neutrales, …
Solicitation No CLMC804 Prime Subs San Antonio St. Chilled Water Distribution Extension (MH) Santa Clara Construction, Ltd. (MB) Earthco Landscape Construction, LLC (MA) Benqwest, LLC (FW) Compliance Resources, Inc. (FW) S&R Investments, Inc. Non-M/WBE Subs Total CLMC803 Prime Subs CLMB333 Prime Prime Prime Prime Prime Prime Prime Prime CLMP296 Prime Subs CLMC800 Prime Subs CLMA038 Prime Subs St. Elmo Cheatham Building Renovations Balfour Beatty Construction, LLC (MB) Ceda-Tex Svcs, Inc. (MH) Mario L. Carlin Management, LLC (FW) NEIHI Glass, Inc. Non-M/WBE Subs Total 2020 Job Order Contract (JOC) Brown & Root Industrial Services, LLC Jamail & Smith Construction, LP Warden Construction Corporation Hensel Phelps Construction Co. Alpha Building Corporation Centennial Contractors Enterprises, Inc. (MH) Veliz Company, LLC Basic IDIQ, Inc. Urban Trails Plan and Sidewalk/ADA Transition Update Toole Design Group, LLC (MB) Reach Out Austin! (MB) A Drone's Eye View, LLC (MH) Altura Solutions, LP (MH) Cultural Strategies, Inc. (MA) Asakura Robinson Company, LLC (FW) MWM Design Group, Inc. Transportation Safety and Mobility Improvements IDIQ (MH) Muniz Concrete & Contracting, Inc. (MB) Robert E Ashford (MB) Avery's Lawn Care & Landscaping, LLC (MH) Pena's Traffic Services, LLC (MA) Benqwest, LLC (FH) Austin Constructors, LLC Non-M/WBE Subs Total Mueller Energy Center Chiller Capacity Addition Stellar Energy Americas, Inc. (MB) HVJ Associates, Inc. (MH) Garza EMC, LLC (MH) Casabella Architects (MA) Aptus Engineering, LLC (MA) Encotech Engineering Consultants, Inc. (FA) KWH Engineering, LLC (FW) Studio Balcones, LLC (FW) MWM Design Group, Inc. (FW) Dickensheets Design Associates, LLC (FW) Baer Engineering & Environmental Consulting, Inc. (FW) Balcones Geotechnical, LLC Non-M/WBE Subs Total # 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Goal Information SG MG No Goals Compliant Compliant Compliant Compliant Compliant Compliant Compliant Compliant SG MG SG MG SG MG SG GFE SG MG SG MG Cost Estimate Award Amount Prime MBE AA H A/NA WBE DBE SMBR Liaison Project Manager Dept Goals Met Type John W. Smith Richard Duane Austin Energy Yes Construction Item 3b1 Council Date 10/1/2020 FY21 Council Awards Report October 2020 MBE/ WBE $6,000,000 $4,322,891 75.88 10.81 2.70 2.73 2.73 0.34 0.36 0.36 SG GFE $1,200,000 $1,247,733 27.58 2.47 7.43 7.43 3.24 2.91 2.91 1.51 0.00 1.88 6.72 John W. Smith Andrew Clements Public Works 10/1/2020 No Construction $2,178,568 John Smith Kevin Benson 10/1/2020 Yes Construction Capital Contracting $1,000,000 51.30 9.00 11.00 4.90 20.00 15.80 15.80 Rachelle Delouis Craig McColloch Public Works 10/1/2020 Yes Professional $2,000,000 $2,500,000 …
Disparity Study Next Steps Consultant Data Analysis Study Presented to COA Internal Stake Holder Briefings SMBR Staff Session COA Executive Session COA General Session External Stake Holder Briefings M/WBE Advisory Committee (July Mtg) MTAs, Chambers & Minority Organizations M/WBE Small Business Session Prime Consultant Stakeholder Session Prime Contractor Stakeholder Session Submit to City Council Procurement Working Group Sept.2020 – May 2021 May 2021 June 2021 June-July 2021 August 2021 August/September 2021
October 15, 2020 City of Austin P.O. Box 1088 Austin, TX 78767 Reference: City of Austin Disparity Study Council Member, I wanted to contact you directly regarding the current City of Austin Disparity Study. The stated purpose of this research was to compile evidence regarding challenges and needed remedies for the current W/MBE program. I’d like to share some information with you directly regarding the impact of the current system. ECM is a Project Delivery firm with offices in Austin and El Paso and successful projects across the state. We are Project and Construction Managers serving as owners’ representatives on construction projects for city leaders for 37 years. We are considered a Professional Services firm and are procured through and RFQ process. The ECM staff consists of architects, engineers, builders and other construction-related professionals and numbers in the low sixties. We are considered a small, minority business in nearly all of the markets where we operate. While the capital city is a key market for the firm, the City of Austin (COA) is the notable exception to our state-wide minority business designation. The “Personal Net Worth” component of Austin’s minority business definition excludes us from competition as a minority (prime) firm. This policy eliminates local business opportunities and forces us to compete against large, national, and international firms. These organizations often boast a workforce that is hundreds (or even thousands) of times larger than ours. While we know that we are a highly-capable firm, it is sometimes difficult to compete head-to-head on a “level playing field” with these global giants. Under the current City of Austin minority definition, once a minority business reaches the Personal Net Worth ceiling, they are no longer eligible for the minority designation. Once this happens, the small firm that has grown in experience, capabilities and value to the city is pushed out and replaced by a new crop of inexperienced companies filling the procurement vacuum. This in fact makes the owner (City of Austin) a revolving door that educates and graduates firms, never really taking advantage of the investment that they’ve made in nurturing each of these organizations. Raising or eliminating the PNW ceiling will allow these (still small) firms to continue providing experience and professional services to the city and satisfying the intended purpose providing opportunities to small minority businesses while receiving quality services for the taxpayers. In terms of consistency, it should be …
City of Austin – Minority Participation Comparison of MBE/WBE Programs vs. other Cities And resulting MBE/WBE spend since the 2015 Disparity Study Jan 31st 2021 Position on Minority Participation - Both the US Hispanic Contractor’s Association and the Greater Austin Hispanic Chamber of Commerce have identified “Increasing Minority Participation” for our members as a key initiative for 2019/2020 and will work diligently to advocate on our members behalf ensuring we put forth our best efforts to increase the percentage of contracts awarded to minority/women-owned businesses - Collectively, we support approximately 1,800 local business members in the Greater Austin area, the majority whom are small minority/women-owned businesses. Approximate membershipGreater Austin Hispanic Chamber of Commerce600 U.S. Hispanic Contractors Association1,200 Subtotal1,800 The City of Austin’s Aspirational Goals - The City of Austin has some of the most ambitious goals in the state when it comes to Minority participation….second only to San Antonio. - The Question is whether the structural elements of the program allow MBEs/WBEs to succeed vs. these aspirational goals. - Let’s see what the data says….. Minority Participation GoalsFortSan DallasWorthHoustonAntonioAustinConstruction25.0%25.0%34.0%44.0%41.2%Professional Services36.3%15.0%24.0%40.0%47.4%Architectural/Engineering25.7%15.0%n/a31.0%n/aGoods/Commodities18.0%25.0%11.0%42.0%13.2%Other Services23.8%n/an/a55.0%43.2%Highest2nd HighestSource: City Code 2-9A-19 2015 Disparity Study 2015 COA Disparity Study Key Findings Before we dive into the data…let’s understand what was recommended previously by the previous Disparity studies… Executive Summary – Section F – Paragraph 1. Minorities and Women Chapter III demonstrates that current M/WBE availability levels in the City of Austin’s market area, as measured in Chapter II, are substantially lower in most instances than those that we would expect to observe if commercial markets operated in a race- and gender-neutral manner and that these levels are statistically significant. In other words, minorities and women are substantially and significantly less likely to own their own businesses as the result of discrimination than would be expected based upon their observable characteristics, including age, education, geographic location and industry. We find that these groups also suffer: - - whether they work as employees or entrepreneurs. substantial and significant earnings disadvantages relative to comparable nonminority males, The 2015 City of Austin’s Disparity Study identified that we have an issue that has existed for a significant period of time that required action and changes in policy. 2015 COA Disparity Study – Key Recommendations The 3rd party (i.e. Consultant) recommendations in the 2015 Disparity study were extensive….these are a few of the key recommendations that we thought as having the potential for …
MBE/WBE and Small Business Enterprise Procurement Program Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes Tuesday – March 2, 2021 The MBE/WBE and Small Business Enterprise Procurement Program Advisory Committee convened in a Regular meeting on Tuesday, February 2, 2021 via videoconference. CALL TO ORDER Committee Chair, Eliza May calls meeting to order at 5:32pm. BOARD MEMBERS IN ATTENDANCE: Eliza May (Chair), Reginald World (Vice-Chair), Lena Banks, Daniel Berner, Usha Boddapu, Barbra Boeta, Tina Cannon, Schiller Liao, Ahmed Moledina CITIZEN COMMUNICATION: GENERAL There were no speakers. 1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES The minutes for the regular meeting of February 2, 2020 were considered for approval. The minutes were approved on a motion by Committee Member, Schiller Liao and seconded by Committee Member, Ahmed Moledina. Minutes approved on an 8-0 vote. 2. NEW BUSINESS For discussion and possible action on recommendations to City Council (City Code § 2-1-163(B)) regarding the following: a. Discussion and appropriate action regarding information on the City’s MBE/WBE participation and usage; and the use of a Personal Net Worth (PNW) and the Economic Disadvantage definition in the MBE/WBE Procurement Program. • Frank Fuentes and Salvador Chavarria of the US Hispanic Contractors Association (USHCA) and Greater Austin Hispanic Chamber of Commerce both presented on this item. o One of their key goals is to increase minority participation of their members. Have been working on this goal for about two years. They represent over 1800 businesses in Austin ranging from construction firms, IT firms, professional firms, and commodity firms. o Reviewed Austin’s certification process compared to the other four municipalities. Austin is the only city that does not accept certificates from other regional organizations. Many of our members have their regional MBEs and state HUBs but no COA MBE. Page 1 of 10 o Austin imposes a personal net worth (PNW) limit for any owners of any business that have MBE/WBE certification. o The payment process on contracts, lack of reciprocity with certification, and firm size limits have considerably decreased the pool of MBE/WBE firms. o Our recommendations are as follows: Eliminate Personal Net Worth cap and support immediate State HUB reciprocity for City projects while firms recertify. Expand pool of MBE/WBE firms prior to the new Disparity Study, then revise the program once the Disparity Study is completed. Request City Council to drive accountability to increase MBE/WBE/SBE participation as part of the COVID-19 economic recovery plan. Create quarterly reports and present …
