by Keith Larson
The State of California, through its Department of General Services, purchases a wide variety of goods and services ranging from pencils to temporary labor. Annual purchases total almost $10 billion, and roughly 25% of that is designated for small business. The DGS Procurement Division is the central purchasing authority for all State departments, agencies, institutions, community colleges, technical institutes and city or local boards of education.
There are three categories of small business: 1. Small Businesses have max 100 employees and past three years’ average revenues less than $14 Mil; 2. Micro Businesses have annual receipts less than $3.5 mil; or the business is a manufacturer with 25 or fewer employees; 3. Disabled Vet Owned Business (DVBE). Must be VA certified at least 10% disabled.
The DGS PD, Office of Small Business and DVBE Services (OSDS) administers the Small Business and DVBE Certification Programs. Go to their website at http://www.dgs.ca.gov/pd/Programs/OSDS.aspx
The State’s goal is 25% of purchases to Small Businesses; Small or Micro Businesses also receive a 5% bidding preference; Primes that include 25% SB/MB or 3% DVBE in their bids receive a 5% bid preference. In the past there has been much criticism of the state’s small business programs (mostly from the author), but many recent changes have improved the programs. And, unlike the federal programs, there is real oversight and penalties for primes that don’t give work to their SB/MB/DVBE subcontractors.
¨ BIDDING OPPORTUNITIES are advertised on BidSync: http://www.bidsync.com/ You must register, and registration is free. Once registered you may
- Receive instant notifications of bid requests from local, county, and state governments. (Caution: be very selective in the key words or you will be inundated with e-mails.)
- Target just the business you want to win using standard NIGP commodity codes
- Turn daily email notices of solicitations, grants, and contracting opportunities into electronic proposals.
Registering and using the system for California contracts is free, but Bid Sync is a private company so they may offer other services and try to get you to pay for them.
A key to success in state contracting is to develop relationships with several prime contractors who will then use your company in their proposals. An organization called Associated General Contractors (AGC) in San Diego costs some $300 to join but gives you access to over 700 GCs. http://www.agcsd.org/
For help with government contracting, sign up for SCORE counseling at http://inlandempire.score.org/, call (951) 652-4390 or send me an e-mail at k.larson@cox.net. I counsel in Murrieta on Thursday afternoons. Another valuable resource is the Riverside Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) at http://www.rccpac.com\