QUESTION
Council Member Narcisse Inquires About Successful MWBE Partnerships
1:02:24
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163 sec
Council Member Mercedes Narcisse questions the effectiveness of partnerships between the Department of Design and Construction (DDC) and Minority and Women-owned Business Enterprises (MWBEs). The discussion highlights success stories, including a high MWBE utilization rate during emergency contracts for pandemic-related health centers, and the strategic moves to include MWBEs in nonprofit contracts. This showcases the city's efforts to increase MWBE participation in significant projects, demonstrating flexibility and proactive measures to enhance diversity in city contracting.
Speaker 11
1:02:24
Can you provide example of successful partnership between DTC and MWDEs on the past?
1:02:31
I mean, on the past projects.
Speaker 4
1:02:37
Sure.
1:02:38
Thank you so much for that question, council member.
1:02:40
So I think the most success that we've had are on projects where we use, like I said earlier, alternative delivery programs.
1:02:50
For example, during the pandemic, we were in a hurry.
1:02:56
We had emergency contracts, and I don't know if you're aware, but emergency contracts are excluded from the MWA program.
1:03:04
But at DDC, we didn't exclude them.
1:03:07
And we had the flexibility to ensure that MWE participated in those projects.
1:03:15
So the 3 clinics that we the health centers that we built for the city's hospital system valued at over a $117,000,000, we had a 46% utilization rate on those.
1:03:31
And one of the one of the and we were able to actually not just through subcontracting, all also through palm crime tech contracting.
1:03:40
So one of the construction managers was an African American woman, and we were able to do that because we weren't strain by the lowest bid.
1:03:49
And as I stated in my testimony, whenever we have the flexibility it really allows us to put for lack of a better word pressure on the end on the primes to make sure that they enhance the MWBE program.
Speaker 11
1:04:07
Thank you.
1:04:07
Thank you, Cheah.
Speaker 5
1:04:08
Yes.
1:04:09
Say and say the council person.
1:04:10
Let me just expound upon that also as well.
1:04:14
Due to, once again, the weekly MWD is Simon Smith meetings that we have.
1:04:20
There were a lot of contracts that were awarded to nonprofits, which we don't have the ability now to assign M and W B goals to non human services contracts.
1:04:33
However, when those contracts expire, we do we have conversations about giving us the ability to assign M And WBE goals before that contract is going to be extended.
1:04:48
And in a lot of cases, the answer has been yes.
1:04:51
And once again, we are going to report in a very short period of time that contracts to MWB Firms in the asylum, seeker, migrant spend has exceeded $1,000,000,000.
1:05:05
So we're going to announce that in a very short period of time.
