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Committee approves one-year extensions for BusinessSource Center contracts and authorizes RFP release
Summary
The committee approved a one-year extension of existing contracts for ten BusinessSource Centers and authorized releasing a request for proposals to procure new contracts, with funding from CDBG and no immediate general fund impact.
The Economic and Workforce Development Department asked the committee to approve one-year extensions of the current contracts for the city’s ten BusinessSource Centers and to authorize release of a request for proposals (RFP) to procure services for the centers for subsequent multi-year terms.
Daisy Hernandez of the Economic and Workforce Development Department explained that extending contracts for one year will allow completion of a comprehensive program assessment and a procurement process without service interruption. Hernandez said the BusinessSource Centers are primarily funded through the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and that renewal "will not have an impact on the general fund" as long as the consolidated plan budget is approved by council.
Committee members asked if the department anticipates reduced CDBG funding. Hernandez said the proposed consolidated plan included $7.2 million for the centers (a reduction from an earlier request) and that the department expects to implement the program at that level. The committee approved the department’s recommendations on a recorded roll call.
The BusinessSource Centers provide legal assistance and access-to-capital services to small businesses in low-income communities across the city; the RFP would seek providers for the centers and for centralized services used across the network.
