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Port report finds LBE spending below goal; staff cites outreach and capacity-building steps
Summary
A contracts update for July–December 2013 shows about $8.6 million paid to contractors with roughly 14% going to local business enterprises (LBEs), below the Port Commission's 20% goal. Staff emphasized outreach, monitoring and capacity-building as remedies.
Port budget manager Megan Wallace told commissioners that, for the first two quarters of fiscal 2013–14 (July–December 2013), the port has paid roughly $8.6 million to contractors, of which about 14% has gone to local business enterprises (LBEs).
"Of the approximately $8,600,000 that we've actually paid to contractors, only about 14% of it has gone to LBEs," Wallace said, calling that figure a typo earlier in her presentation and then confirming the corrected number.
Wallace detailed delegated authority levels for the executive director — $500,000 for contract service orders, $400,000 for public works contracts and $100,000 for professional services — and said the executive director approved $1.4 million in service orders and about $500,000 in new contracts so far this fiscal year.
On newly awarded contracts, Wallace said five awards totaled $1,180,000 and that three of those five are LBEs or in the process of certification. She also noted that for contracts subject to Admin. Code 14B, the port has paid approximately $7,750,000 overall, with 15% of that going to LBE subcontractors.
Commissioners and staff discussed reasons the port is below its 20% LBE goal, identifying contract size, project-specific constraints (for example, dredging work with hazardous-waste removal) and the life-of-contract nature of subcontracting goals. Wallace and commissioners highlighted recent outreach to local chambers and the "Business Exchange" as steps to build capacity and trust with minority- and women-owned businesses.
The local hire program also drew attention: the port requires certain projects to meet benchmarks (roughly 25% local hiring or apprenticeships for covered projects), but exemptions and special-service contracts sometimes make meeting those targets difficult. Wallace said the port is tracking both prime and subcontract spending to get a clearer picture of LBE participation across contract lifecycles.
Next steps: staff will continue monitoring contracts over their lifecycles, pursue outreach and capacity-building with industry groups and report additional detail on prime-contractor spending when available.
