Small businesses play a significant role in the California economy. But they have been devastated by the pandemic. To mitigate this, UC Procurement launched Small Business First (SB1st), a set-aside program to increase contracting opportunities for small and disadvantaged businesses, with a target implementation date of March 1, 2021, for campus procurement operations.
As we near the program implementation date, campuses are ramping up efforts with a variety of creative approaches and activities. Here are highlights of their progress thus far:
UC Berkeley: Initiated outreach to existing small business suppliers to increase engagement. Training existing SB suppliers to better navigate the system. Evaluating current SB suppliers to target filling category gaps. Partnering with local agencies to increase SB supplier resources. Making it easier to buy through existing SB contracts.
UC Davis: Working to raise campus awareness of SB First program. Sponsoring a virtual Small & Diverse Supplier Expo on February 25, 10am – 2pm.
UC Irvine: Creating list of vetted and reliable SB suppliers by commodity for easy reference by department buyers. Holding SB Q&A sessions with suppliers to increase awareness and engagement. Held a Small Business First informative training session on February 23 to introduce program to campus stakeholders, including department buyers, faculty members and principal investigators.
UCLA: Sponsoring a virtual Small Business Resource Fair on March 2, 11am – 2pm. Socializing program and SB Fair in February campus newsletter. Developing and scheduling trainings for campus departmental purchasers. SB Officer developed process for campus access to Explorer database (supplier diversity search platform).
UC San Diego: Launched ‘Open for Small Business’ as the first phase of the SB First program to connect campus departments with local small businesses. Created campus focus groups, procurement team meetings, and individual info sessions to ensure best process development and program buy-in. Active outreach to introduce program to Public Agency Consortium partners. Increased Capability Meetings with small business clients to build strong pool of certified sources. As a research-heavy campus, identified three core areas of focus to ensure initial program success. Have a well-developed SB supplier base in most commodities, with embedded procurement staff in key departments to support departmental buyers.
UCSF: Focused on increasing SB spend in construction and facilities via the Anchor Initiative and partnership with the City of San Francisco as part of the Comprehensive Parnassus Heights Plan, a multi-year, $3B building project to revitalize the historic campus. UCSF has committed to a 30% local hire goal for project construction jobs and a community benefits program that will leverage its commitment as an Anchor Institution to advance economic security and opportunity in under-resources communities by increasing spending with small, local and diverse businesses.
In addition to sharing ideas with each other, campuses are encouraged to take advantage of the many resources available on the Small Business First Program webpage which include: