Page 29 - The Edge2023 - Spring

Purchasing from Minority Firms will Get Federal Attention

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the recommendation from the feds, it does spell things. Remember, it’s the best we can do. Always
out when possible,” Williams said. “There are be open with your board.”
going to be times, well, most of the time, you’re
not going to give preferential treatment. If it Hamilton recommended that AASBO members
happens, this is a possibility. Typically, follow work with local chambers of commerce to have
more restrictive rules, and Arizona procurement sessions for minority vendors on how to do
rules are more restrictive than federal rules – they business with schools. “This will become more
don’t give preferential treatment.” prevalent as we get into diversity,” she said.

When it comes to being audited by the feds,
The trend started to develop over the Hamilton said, “You’re better off to acknowledge

last 24 months – we’re seeing ‘meeby- what you did and how you did it. We don’t know
weeby’ from the federal side.” what the federal audits are going to look like yet. A
lot of the push is for the small-dollar purchases be
– Bobby Williams done to spread the wealth to the ‘meeby-weeby.’”

Hamilton pointed out that school districts must
To vendors, Williams said, “If you’re the low award contracts to the most responsive and
bidder, you’re the low bidder, whether you’re responsible bidder, and do not allow advantages
minority owned or not.” for minority firms.

The various vendor classifications are: Disabled
Veteran; LGBT owned; Minority Business Michelle Hamilton can be reached at: mlhamilton@mpsaz.org
certified; Native American owned; US DOT
Certified DBE (Disadvantaged Business Bobby Williams can be reached at: bwilliams@opengov.com
Enterprise); Veteran owned; and Women Business
enterprise

“In the old days,” Hamilton said, “it was all ‘meeby-
weeby’. Historically Underutilized Business
(HUB) or Minority/Women Business Enterprise
(MWBE) entities are encouraged to indicate their
HUB and MWBE status when responding to the
request for proposal. The recommended vendor
– the highest-scored vendor – certifies that their
firm is a MWBE, which is not a bad thing. It can
provide board members with the information. It
fulfills the requirement for the federal side of

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