LA County Small Business Utilization Initiative
COULD YOUR BUSINESS BENEFIT FROM $1.73 BILLION OF CONTRACT FUNDING?
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has set a goal to ensure at least 25% of county contracts go to small businesses, up from less than 2% currently. This would result in an additional $1.73 billion in contracts to small businesses, including an additional goal of issuing $198 million in contracts to disabled veteran owned businesses.
The Pasadena Chamber, as a member of BizFed's Small Business Diversity Committee, has been actively working with the LA County Department of Consumer and Business Affairs (DCBA) to address vital issues as part of the County's Small Business Initiative (SBI) designed to boost support for businesses across the region.
NEXT STEPS: DCBA must report back to the Board of Supervisors in May 2016 with their recommendation of a Small Business Initiative program to begin by July 1, so stay tuned for additional formal opportunities to get involved over the next couple of months.
In the meantime, here are some important updates that we urge you to share with your members and employees:
1. Small Business Contracting: The LA County Board of Supervisors has set a goal to ensure at least 25% of county contracts go to small businesses, up from less than 2% currently. This would result in an additional $1.73 billion in contracts to small businesses, including an additional $198 million in contracts to disabled veteran owned businesses. BizFed's Small Business Initiative Working Group has contributed key ideas, such as ensuring small businesses are paid promptly for their work as an important way to expand access for small businesses to these opportunities.
2. Financial Aid & Incentives for Small Business: DCBA's SBI Recommendation Report includes a range of options for providing meaningful financial assistance to small businesses to mitigate the costs of minimum wage implementation. These include expedited permitting, fee waivers and reductions, personal property tax reduction, and business license fee waivers. BizFed has urged DCBA to determine the fiscal impact and order of priorities of these incentives prior to the final report to ensure any new policy has the most real impact on small businesses.
3. Wage Enforcement: DCBA is developing an education and outreach plan to create a Wage Enforcement Program. Their goals are to: (1) raise awareness about the new minimum wage law; (2) educate employers to prevent wage theft violations; (3) teach employees about their rights in the workplace and; (4) encourage employees to file a complaint with DCBA if they believe they've been victimized. DCBA's strategy for executing a successful education and outreach campaign can be viewed by clicking here.
Small Business Outreach & Education: LA County’s Small Business Concierge went online a month ago. Businesses can now submit questions through the service. The Small Business Concierge team is working to leverage partnerships with existing business development entities as well as business organizations to grow and strengthen the small business community within LA County.
Stakeholders have provided feedback on how to best connect small businesses to these services, which includes working through local chambers of commerce instead of primarily through County-run workforce development workshops. In addition, it was recommended that DCBA coordinate with cities to include an insert with their regular business licensing mailers.
As policies, procedures and opportunities are unveiled, the Chamber will do our best to provide the information.