The Department of Personnel and Administration reported to the Joint Business Committee on Jan. 22 on implementation steps for a supplier diversity program created by Senate Bill 22‑163, and on a Public‑Private Partnership Collaboration Unit charged with converting underused state property into housing, child care, broadband links and other public uses.

Deputy Executive Director Tobin Follmeyer summarized supplier diversity actions: DPA convened a 33‑participant stakeholder facilitation in 2023 and set up ongoing communities of practice (separate tracks for goods/services and construction). The office has opened a help desk that had supported about 120 businesses since February 2024 and a bond assistance program that has processed roughly a dozen applications since April 2024. DPA said it intends to create a statewide supplier directory that catalogs small and diverse Colorado businesses (using existing third‑party certifications where available) and to roll out supplier diversity and bond‑101 training for state purchasers.

Follmeyer also said DPA is studying a centralized procurement system to replace decentralized department‑level procurement processes; the department has requested funding for a multi‑year procurement modernization project and said a central system would better deliver lists of solicitations and track subcontractor participation and prime contract payment flows.

On the P3 Collaboration Unit, DPA reported that no final P3 agreements had been signed as of Dec. 31, 2024, but it identified projects expected to move toward agreements in the coming 12 months: a Lakewood complex redevelopment near the Capitol complex for up to roughly 100–300 housing units; a Durango site targeting about 100–300 units; an Auraria Campus project (CDC‑approved) expected to include roughly 300 housing units and about 200 childcare seats; broadband connections to DOC facilities in Limon and Sterling; and a governor’s mansion parking‑lot P3 approved by the CDC for an estimated 80–140 units. DPA said projects will go to the Capital Development Committee (CDC) as required and emphasized that the P3 unit’s work focuses on projects that will return value to the state while supporting behavioral health, childcare, broadband and housing goals.

Lawmakers asked whether DPA’s supplier diversity effort covers service‑disabled veteran‑owned small businesses (it does) and whether the office can measure prime/subcontractor participation now (it cannot because the state lacks a single procurement system). DPA said it has requested funding to build a centralized procurement system, which would allow tracking of subcontractor participation, payment flows and other data needed to measure results from the 2020 disparity study and subsequent policy recommendations.