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OCII reports steady SBE contracting and ongoing workforce challenges in semiannual review
Summary
OCII staff presented the July—2015–December—2015 SBE contracting and local-hire report, showing professional services SBE participation above the 50% goal while construction and supplies lag at ~36.5%; staff highlighted payment-tracking limits, labor demand pressures, and plans for additional outreach and workforce pipeline work with CityBuild and OEWD.
At a workshop (item 5F) OCII's Contract Compliance team presented the semiannual Small Business Enterprise (SBE) contracting and workforce participation report for July—2015 through December—2015. The agency reaffirmed a 50 percent SBE contracting goal and described outcomes split between professional services and construction/supplies.
Kashika McKinney and Raymond Lee summarized the numbers: OCII reported approximately $201.8 million in contract activity during the period (aggregate figure in presentation materials). Professional services SBE participation exceeded the 50 percent target (roughly 57.6 percent in the professional-services category), while construction and supplies lagged at about 36.5 percent SBE participation. The staff presentation included ethnicity and gender breakouts for awarded dollars and the number of firms used in each category.
Staff also reviewed workforce metrics. OCII reported roughly 1,124,000 local work hours for the reporting period out of the total hours reported for completed projects (figures in the packet). The local-hire share across active projects was about 26.8 percent of total hours; staff emphasized that heavy local construction demand means many jobseekers are working but that the industry has a constrained pipeline for locally sourced labor and apprenticeships.
Contract compliance staff flagged several operational issues: limitations in extracting monthly payment data from the agency's elation system because OCII is not always the direct paying entity; potential use of industry payment systems like Textura for improved payment reporting; and continued outreach steps, including pre-proposal/bid meetings, targeted outreach to trade associations and chambers, and SBE networking events. Staff described outreach to historically underrepresented groups and plans to bolster female participation in construction trades.
Public commenters and community representatives raised concerns about delayed subcontractor payments and urged more active contractor coordination to ensure timely payment and to create pathways for formerly incarcerated residents into union apprenticeship slots. OCII and OEWD representatives noted existing referral and training programs, acknowledged barriers such as GED and driver-license requirements for some trades, and said additional targeted supports and coordination will continue.
OCII described next steps: continue outreach to bolster SBE participation in construction, explore payment-data solutions (Textura or accounting extracts), expand workforce referrals with OEWD/CityBuild and run targeted outreach to improve participation among Latino- and women-owned firms, and provide more firm-level biography and certification details in future reports as requested by commissioners.
Source: OCII Contract Compliance presentation and public comment at the January 19, 2016 commission meeting (item 5F workshop).
