Attention MWBEs: The Procurement Department Can’t Find You!

{3:25 minutes to read} Yesterday, I spent the entire day chasing down an opportunity for a professional service that I found on a prime contractor’s website that I thought would be a good fit for one of my clients. The problem was that the date had already passed to apply for pre-qualification.

This job has a 30% minority- or women-owned business enterprises (MWBE) participation goal on it, so I was frustrated and wanted to know why I was not informed about it sooner. Here is what I found out:

• The Procurement Officer’s search began with a review of the MWBE online directory, searching by commodity codes only—not keywords.

• The Procurement Officer created a shortlist of vendors based on commodity codes, business size, and geographic area.

• The Procurement Officer sent an email to selected firms and has reported back that he got little or no response. A significant portion of email addresses bounced back or was incorrect.

Now, as an MWBE, I know what you must be thinking—this can’t be right. I thought the same thing until I did my own search of this commodity code. Interestingly, although I knew several firms that could perform this service, none of them were on the list. Of the firms that were on the list, many of them had neglected to update their contract size and largest contracts, so they were automatically eliminated from the search.

Frustrating all the way around for the MWBEs who missed this opportunity and for the Procurement Officer who is trying to meet MWBE goals.

How do we fix this? Here are my immediate recommendations:

• Commit to updating your MWBE profiles annually; now is a good time to start working on this.

• Look at your commodity codes, largest clients, references, company size, and company information, and make sure they are updated on the MWBE directory and other applicable websites.

• Select your commodity codes carefully, making certain that they align with exactly what it is you do.

• Identify your target audience and figure out their process for identifying MWBEs. Do you need to register or pre-qualify for opportunities? Will opportunities be posted on the website?

• Create a marketing program that allows you to engage with your target audience on a regular and consistent basis. Think about the fact that buyers are struggling to find us, so marketing is a game changer, a differentiator, and a way for us to increase outcomes.

• Update your capability statement—make sure commodity codes, past performance, and references are up to date.

• Consider using the back of your business card to add commodity codes, certifications and mission statement.

I hope you find this information helpful. If you are in NYC, I would suggest taking advantage of the free technical assistance that is offered by the NYC Department of Small Business Services (SBS) to help you with updating your commodity codes and reviewing your marketing strategy. SBS can be reached at 212-518-6444 or techassist@sbs.nyc.gov.

Please contact me with questions or comments.