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Minority Businesses Could See Change In Certification Process
04/11/2008 - By Daniel Valentine/ Staff Writer/ Gazette.Net
Faced with years of complaints that Prince George’s County has not given minority-owned companies enough contracts, officials have again proposed shaking up the county’s minority-business certification process to steer more business their way.
The initiative, proposed in a County Council bill introduced this week, would shift responsibility for certifying and contracting with minority-owned businesses to the county’s purchasing department, not a political board. A similar bill introduced in November died when the council’s legislative year ended Dec. 31.
The renewed effort comes as officials continue to express concern that locally owned minority contractors continue to experience problems landing choice deals with the county and other major companies.
‘‘This bill is going to expand the opportunities for minority businesses,” said John Erzen, spokesman for County Executive Jack B. Johnson (D).
It is an issue that has been argued in the county since as early as 2005, when leaders paid $372,000 for a private study that analyzed minority-business contracting in Prince George’s.
That report, by D.J. Miller and Associates of Atlanta, reviewed more than $635 million worth of county contracts from 1996 to 2004. Though the county exceeded its own goals to give at least 30 percent of work to minority-owned businesses in that time, the study also detailed that there were far more minority businesses available for competition, and that many company executives felt shut out and confused by the county bureaucracy.
‘‘[There is a] perception that the county does business with a small pool of firms repetitively,” the authors wrote, saying that problems with slow payments, bad customer service and other issues also made it harder for minority businesses to get their feet in the door.
County goals call for steering certain percentages of contracts to businesses that are certified as minority-owned — meaning that more than 51 percent of the business is owned by a woman or someone who is black, Hispanic, of East or South Asian descent, or a member of another minority group.
For most county contracts, the goal is to direct at least 30 percent of the value of a contract to a business that is certified or subcontracts the work to a certified minority business. The goal for public works projects is 20 percent.
The study estimated that existing minority-owned enterprises could handle up to half of the construction contracts in the county, and about 25 percent of other procurement and professional service contracts.
Authors also singled out shortcomings by the county’s Minority Business Development Division, a branch of the department of central services, which handles most contracts and purchases for the county. Although the group was tasked with encouraging minority contractors to apply for county business, it has had little power to enforce and regulate the system.
‘‘Currently, [the division] acts in a mostly networking function,” according to the study.
The new bill would change that by transferring responsibility for certifying minority-owned businesses to the development division.
The division would essentially swap functions with the county’s Minority Business Opportunities Commission, a board appointed by Johnson. The commission would be in charge of networking and encouraging minority businesses to participate with the county.
‘‘Right now, we have two entities responsible for doing essentially the same thing,” Erzen said. ‘‘This clarifies the responsibilities.”
In addition to swapping duties between the two groups, the bill would add four more members to the commission, increasing political representation. The County Council would appoint the new members.
‘‘It will be a really critical advisory board that will look at ways we can expand the opportunities,” Erzen said. ‘‘It also will give the County Council a voice. They’re just as concerned about this.”
Hubert ‘‘Petey” Green, president of the Prince George’s County Black Chamber of Commerce, said Thursday he had not read the legislation and could not comment on it.
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