County officials report small/local business contracting rose to 21% after new policies and outreach

County economic development staff told supervisors the county has increased the share of contract dollars going to small and local businesses from about 12% before recent policy updates to roughly 21% today and aims to reach 25%.

Matthew Parr, director of Economic Development and Government Affairs, described how Board Policy B‑53 was modernized to broaden the small business definition, raise the small local preference to 15%, and add subcontractor expectations to expand participation. Parr said the county is combining policy changes with targeted technical assistance under the BEST initiative —STEP (one‑on‑one procurement guidance), BUILD (no‑cost financial assistance for insurance and bonding), and CORE (bookkeeping and labor‑law support) — to remove barriers and build capacity.

Parr highlighted outcomes: "Since 2025, approximately 36 small local businesses have received support through STEP and have gone on to be awarded a county contract," he said. He attributed the change to a combination of expanded definitions, improved data reporting, intentional outreach (business walks, chamber and partner meetings), and programs that address specific barriers (insurance, bonding, navigating the county's procurement portal). Staff noted that the measurement uses total county contract spend as the denominator for the 25% target and that applying B‑53 retroactively to contracts awarded before 2021 would be administratively disruptive and potentially costly.

Supervisors and staff discussed further outreach partnerships, debrief procedures for unsuccessful bidders, and options to increase visibility for small/local subcontracting opportunities. No formal action was taken; staff were asked to prepare additional analysis and a memo for the committee.