Program Aims To Boost Small Business Contracts
Photo/Edd Cote
NEW OPPORTUNITIES: James Mazuchelli of WPC Termite and Pest Control in Westborough is one of 1,600 small business owners to sign up for the state's Small Business Purchasing Program. To qualify, a company must have 50 or fewer full-time employees and less than $15 million in revenues.
Small business owners can save $275 by signing up before July 1 for a fledgling state program aimed at steering more spending on products and services to small businesses.
Gov. Deval Patrick signed an executive order last year calling for the creation of the Small Business Purchasing Program (SBPP). The program now has more than 1,600 member businesses as it prepares to enter its first full fiscal year this summer.
The order requires state agencies to award non-construction purchasing contracts ranging from $5,000 to $50,000 in value to small businesses and also gives preference to those businesses on contracts ranging from $50,001 to $150,000 in value. And officials will be discussing later this year how to incorporate larger, statewide contracts into the program.
There are hundreds of millions of dollars that could potentially be steered to businesses with 50 or fewer full-time employees.
Cash Flows
The state spent approximately $3 billion on non-construction projects in fiscal year 2009, according to Sarah McKinnon, outreach and reporting coordinator for the SBPP. Of that amount, approximately $601 million, or 20 percent, would qualify under the SBPP, she said. And that percentage could increase if statewide contracts are phased into the program.
Compared to the contracts from individual executive departments in the state, statewide contracts are usually larger in amount, cover a broad range of goods and services and are awarded to multiple vendors.
Construction contracts are not part of the program because those jobs are typically too large for most small firms, McKinnon said. Construction jobs are also outside the authority of the state agency that oversees the SBPP, the state Operational Services Division.
To qualify for the SBPP, a business must have been in existence for a year or more, have 50 or fewer full-time employees in all locations and gross annual revenues of $15 million or less.
As of this month, 1,620 businesses have signed up for the program through the website www.comm-pass.com, McKinnon said.
James Mazuchelli of WPC Termite and Pest Control in Westborough signed up for the SBPP about a month ago. He has experience bidding on city and other public contracts, but said he had a hard time in the past breaking into bidding on state jobs. Mazuchelli said he has had his eye on a department of correction contract for the past three years.
“For small businesses, it would actually generate a pretty good bill,” Mazuchelli said.
But Mazuchelli said he missed his chance to bid on the contract in 2008 because he did not get on the state’s vendor list fast enough. He said he was not sure exactly what was required and who to talk to.
“I didn’t know where to go, who to call, what to do,” he said.
The SBPP, he said, “shines some light.”
Ahearn Equipment in Spencer, which sells landscaping machinery and equipment, auto parts and other goods, is also a member of the SBPP. Donna Ahearn said that her company has done business with the state for the past 10 to 15 years.
Ahearn said she hopes the new program will have results for smaller businesses, which she said should have been a stronger focus for the state long ago.
“I see that over the years, the state has attempted to streamline their purchasing systems and to save taxpayer dollars and bring the best value to the state’s purchases,” Ahearn said.
“The state has a tremendous opportunity here to show its residents that it’s important to support small businesses.”
On Offer
The contracts that are included in the program are varied. One recent SBPP transaction is from the marine unit of the Massachusetts State Police, which in February awarded a contract to an Arlington business to purchase two or more personal watercraft for an estimated $55,000.
The Executive Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation is seeking bids for a consulting firm to perform consumer tests to measure the effectiveness of mortgage default and reverse mortgage disclosure notices. The contract will be worth about $70,000.
Over the course of a year, agencies will be looking for meeting space, supplies, vehicle parts and a wide range of other goods and services, McKinnon said.
For those with cold feet, those who feel they don’t have enough time or those who have found dealing with the state to be a hassle in the past, the SBPP is trying to ease concerns.
Membership to the state’s e-bidding system, Smart Bid, normally costs $275 per year but businesses that join before July 1 will get a free one-year membership. Businesses that join will also be placed in a public directory on the state’s website.
The SmartBid software uses keywords chosen by member vendors to target email notices about contracts.
For example, the owner of a landscaping company might input the terms “mowing and “weeding” into his or her profile.
Requests-for-bids that specify any of those terms would automatically trigger an email to that business owner.
Mazuchelli, the Westborough exterminator, said he had already received about four emails preparing him to bid on the DOC contract, which closes in June.
He has his fingers crossed. “I’m ready to go,” he said.
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