TITLE
Recommendation to request City Manager to work with the Financial Management Department’s Purchasing Division to ensure a study of the current Local Preference Ordinance is included in the Extreme Procurement Makeover Project (which is remaking procurement policies, processes, and practices in Long Beach), including an analysis, assessment of the feasibility and options for implementation of the items. In addition, prioritize this study by modifying the workplan for the Extreme Procurement Makeover Project, and report back to City Council in no more than 180 days.
DISCUSSION
1. Increase local preference percentage from 10% to 20%.
2. Increase or remove the cap on maximum local preference amount.
3. Increase the access to contract award information, including its impact to local, small, and diverse business types, with women-owned, minority-owned, and disadvantaged business enterprises specifically addressed.
4. Additional tracking and reporting of economic impact and job creation/preservation from local awards.
5. Expand local preference to contracting opportunities for local nonprofit organizations.
6. Additional tracking of sub-contracting to local vendors.
7. Identify ways to incorporate local preference considerations on all, or an eligible subset of, Requests for Proposals (RFPs).
Ensuring the City of Long Beach invests in our local economy is important to the ongoing health and wellbeing of our communities. Increasing local contract awards supports local small businesses of all kinds, and in doing so provides stronger pathways to employment and entrepreneurship and potentially attracts additional businesses.
Local preference in contracting also generates significant economic spillover effects, as businesses winning contract awards are paying more local employees, who shop and dine in local retail stores and restaurants. These secondary and tertiary effects amplify the impact of the dollars that the City spends on the preference program, and some...
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