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Local Vendor Outreach
Updated October 2008
Local Vendor outreach Seminar for all Local Business! November 17th, 2008.
What defines a local vendor?
Cutbacks in defense spending. Downsizing in the corporate world. Grumblings about government not being business-friendly enough. The malaise in the state's economy a number of years ago caused us to ask: What could be done to improve government/business relations — without failing to govern? … to use tax dollars to stimulate local economic vitality — without handing out a dole? … to elicit inter-agency cooperation — without creating another bureaucracy?
The Program
Purchasing, in concert with then Supervisor Schwartz, and now with Supervisor Carbajal, developed a comprehensive Local Vendor Outreach program, which was then adopted by the full Board, in order to encourage our local business people to do business with the County.
We
established a program in which:
- we
educated the business community on how to effectively compete
for the money we spend;
- we
listened to vendors' needs and concerns;
- we
embraced possibilities we hadn't seen before; and
- we
cooperated with 18 other local agencies to address our common
concerns.
Here are the specifics:
- Education: Several introductory seminars were held around the county. Over 300 people representing all manner of businesses attended these sessions — each receiving a complete set of instructional materials. The seminars were exceptionally well received. Feedback from attendees on the evaluation forms averaged 4.5 on a scale of 1 to 5. In addition, the meetings engendered much positive publicity for the County and for the program itself. Once most of the local vendors who were interested had attended a seminar, we continued the program by joining most of the local chambers of commerce, getting the word out by attending trade shows, mixers, and other business functions. We continually try to add as many local vendors to our database as we can.
We maintain that program by attending business group meetings
and adding as many local vendors to our database as we can.
- Interaction:
A series of meetings with local vendors provided a forum for input and feedback related to Vendor Selection, Bid Procedures, and Payment Processing. Ideas generated at these "Vendor Advisory Panels" became part of the way the County is improving its business processes. In addition, the simple opportunity for dialog with the vendor community has been refreshing and beneficial for all involved.
- Opportunities:
Notable successes attributable to the County's efforts to "buy local" includes Perry Motors, which was able to compete effectively with the "Big Boys" for $640,000 in orders for sedans and patrol cars; LeBard's Computer Center, $367,000 for computer maintenance services; Tri County Office Furniture and Design, $1 million; and Quinn Company, nearly $2 million for our heavy equipment needs. Because these businesses saw our commitment to keeping tax dollars local, they decided they were ready and willing to aggressively bid for the new contract. They were able to demonstrate that in fact a local firm can offer prices and service that will make their award the best deal for the County.
- Collaboration:
The educational seminars afforded an excellent occasion for increased cooperation among local agencies. County Purchasing led the coalition of purchasing officers in all of the cities, the public higher education institutions, and the largest of the school districts to form the Santa Barbara Government Buyers CO-OPP (short for "Cooperative Organization to Optimize Public Purchasing"). This group has met together to organize the events — simultaneously building rapport and relationships to help develop both their professional procurement skills and their recognition of the value of keeping tax dollars circulating within the local economy. Although these agencies have different missions, we are able to pool our resources for items in common use. Agencies have cooperated in the purchase of things like firefighting gear, fuel, and copy machines. In addition, some local business that supply nationally distributed products are able to access special pricing based on cooperative bidding by organizations such as U.S. communities and Western States Contracting Alliance.
-
Preference: Since 2005, all County bids for tangible goods have a 6% local vendor preference. That is, a local supplier can bid as much as 6% more than an out-of-county supplier and still receive the bid award!
With the exception of the preference program, the
entire Local Vendor Outreach Program was undertaken without any
increase in government spending. The educational seminars were and
will be produced within existing budgets, by creatively managing
existing resources. Moreover, the cycling of local tax dollars back
into the local economy has been done without establishing a costly
"preference" program. Local vendors have proven that they can effectively
compete for our business — providing value equal to or better than
that offered by metropolitan "big hitters".
This program, which brought home the CSAC Challenge Award Trophy for 1994, has been a success by every measure. In Fiscal Year 06/07, the County spent 88 million dollars on goods and services from business with local zip codes. That was 55.6% of the total spending for these items. The goal of the program is to increase the spending to 60% of the total spending.
Inquiries about the Local Vendor Outreach Program may be directed
to John McMillin, Purchasing Manager, at 568-2693 or email.
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