TITLE
Recommendation to authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute an agreement, and any necessary documents including any necessary subsequent amendments, with the Knight Foundation and/or the Long Beach Community Foundation, to accept and expend grant funding in an amount not to exceed $150,000, for programs and projects related to vendor equity, including accessibility, engagement, and capacity building as part of the Purchasing Division’s Extreme Procurement Makeover; and
Increase appropriation in the General Grants Fund Group in the Financial Management Department by $150,000, offset by grant revenue. (Citywide)
DISCUSSION
City Council approval is requested for the Department of Financial Management (Department) to enter into an agreement with the Knight Foundation and/or the Long Beach Community Foundation, to accept and expend grant funding for programs and projects related to vendor equity as part of the Purchasing Division’s Extreme Procurement Makeover. The Long Beach Community Foundation will be acting as grant administrator for the Knight Foundation.
Over the last year, the Department’s Purchasing Division has taken deliberate steps toward equity in public procurement. Dubbed the Extreme Procurement Makeover (Makeover), this vendor equity program focuses on accessibility that lowers government contracting participation barriers, engagement that focuses on community stakeholders and targeted market research, and capacity building that invests resources in local businesses to allow them to better compete. The Makeover’s goal is that the proportion of bids received from small, local, diverse, and/or disadvantaged businesses, including minority-owned, women-owned, disabled-owned, veteran-owned, and LGBTQ+-owned businesses, match the demographics of these groups within the City of Long Beach’s (City) business sectors they are part of.
To accomplish this, extensive market research, stakeholder engagement, and problem analysis have been complete...
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