County Opens Business Engagement Phase for the Vendor Disparity Study
Consultants will host business meetings, launch an interactive website, and distribute vendor surveys
The County of Santa Clara and MGT Consulting launched the business engagement phase of the countywide Disparity Study. The Study aims to increase opportunities with small and diverse businesses. To achieve that goal, the Study will collect and use data to identify potential disparities between the availability of diverse businesses and how they are selected as contractors for the County.
A significant part of the Study will incorporate the business community’s voice and include outreach meetings to hear from local vendors, particularly minority-, women-, LGBTQ-, and disabled veteran-owned businesses. MGT Consulting will host five virtual business engagement sessions during the summer of 2022. There will be five virtual business engagement forums between August and September. The first will be Thursday, Aug. 11. MGT hosts the meetings without County staff present and gathers feedback in a way that vendors remain anonymous.
“The County wants to encourage vendors and small businesses, especially those from underrepresented and diverse businesses, to participate in the Disparity Study,” said Chief Operating Officer Miguel Márquez, J.D. “We live in a diverse county with different challenges and with people facing different needs. This study will help us improve our procurement processes to more effectively address the inequities that still exist.”
The Board of Supervisors approved the contract with MGT Consulting in January to analyze the County’s use of vendors from underrepresented communities across its entire portfolio of contracted goods and services.
“Vendors and small businesses should be open and honest with their feedback on our current processes, so that we can make it easier for everyone to navigate the system,” said Gene Clark, the County of Santa Clara Chief Procurement Officer. “Whether they participate in one of the business forums or fill out a vendor survey, this is an opportunity for vendors to tell us how the County can help them. We want to improve our process and make it inclusive for everyone.”
MGT Consulting launched a new website at countyofsantaclaradisparitystudy.com for vendors to learn more about the Study and fill out forms about their experiences doing business or trying to do business with the County.
Businesses will also be randomly selected from a pool of vendors to participate in interviews and business surveys. The interviews are opportunities for business owners to have one-on-one discussions with the MGT team. The surveys gather information on business demographics, capacity, and each vendor’s experiences doing business with the County.
More information on the disparity study and registration for business engagement forums can be found at countyofsantaclaradisparitystudy.com.
Vendors can also learn more about opportunities to participate in the virtual business forums and upcoming business opportunities by subscribing to the vendor newsletter at www.sccprc.org .
To learn more about doing business with the County of Santa Clara, go to the Procurement Department webpage at https://procurement.sccgov.org/doing-business-county/vendor-registration.
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ABOUT THE COUNTY OF SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA
The County of Santa Clara government serves a diverse, multicultural population of 1.9 million residents in Santa Clara County, Calif., making it more populous than 14 states in the U.S. The County provides essential services to its residents, including public health protection, environmental stewardship, medical services through the County of Santa Clara Health System, child and adult protection services, homelessness prevention and solutions, roads, park services, libraries, emergency response to disasters, protection of minority communities and those under threat, access to a fair criminal justice system, and many other public benefits.
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Media Contact: María Leticia Gómez / Matthew Rudig, Office of Communications and Public Affairs, (408) 299-5119, [email protected]
Posted: July 21, 2022