Executives hail procurement changes in Montgomery

Under the new rules, businesses would not have to pay a $10-per-bid fee to try for county contracts or a $200 annual fee to be notified when the county posts contracts.

The proposals face approval by the County Council, and officials hope to start some, such as an improved Internet site, this summer.

Another proposal is to move the county’s small-business reserve program under the Office of Procurement. The program, which began in January 2006, is designed to award at least 10 percent of qualifying county contracts — based on their dollar value — to eligible small businesses. It is now under the Department of Economic Development, while the county’s minority and women business program is under the procurement department.

Officials said the reserve program exceeded its goal in its first six months, but the program awarded only $2.7 million to local small companies, while a mere $8 million in procurement dollars was deemed to qualify. The large majority of county contracts was exempt due to reasons such as pre-existing contracts and lacking a ‘‘qualified” vendor.

A county spokeswoman said she did not have results of the reserve program for fiscal 2007. Overall, Montgomery County awarded $686.3 million in contracts for everything from construction projects to traffic-control cameras last fiscal year to large and small companies.

The county would lose about $100,000 annually in fees under the proposal, but that would be offset by savings in eliminating printing and mailing costs, as well as increased competition that should reduce the contracts’ costs, County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) said.

The Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce asked for many of the changes and is ‘‘delighted” with the plan, said Georgette W. ‘‘Gigi” Godwin, chamber president and CEO.

Restrepo, also president of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Montgomery County, said the proposals address the issues he and others raised when they spoke with Leggett and other officials at meetings last year.

Also among the proposed changes:

*Eliminating restrictions on purchases of less than $5,000 for county departments, enabling them to work more freely with small companies.

*Expanding minority business certification to include federal programs, not just state ones.

*More networking briefings between business executives and county procurement officials.

*An online reference list of key department contacts.

*More information on the county Internet site, including copies of contract documents and prior solicitations.

*Developing a central vendor registration portal to provide a single point where companies can register and update information for Montgomery County public schools, the Park and Planning department and Montgomery College. Now, businesses must register separately.

Congress mullssmall-business bill

The U.S. Senate should consider a bill to overhaul the Small Business Administration’s contracting process ‘‘in the near future,” said Kathryn Seck, a spokeswoman for the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee, which approved the legislation unanimously late last year.

The Senate is scheduled to return to work on Jan. 22, she said.

The bill approved by the committee would make it more difficult to ‘‘bundle” smaller federal contracts together, which can then be harder for small companies to win, by improving SBA oversight of that practice. The legislation would also direct the SBA to implement the women-owned small-business program, which was passed in 2000, within 90 days. Some groups have criticized an SBA proposal to limit the industries that the agency rules is under-represented by women-owned companies.

The bill would also allow small disadvantaged business certifications issued by other agencies to be accepted by the SBA and adjust eligibility standards for the SBA’s business development program for inflation.

The legislation, called the Small Business Contracting Revitalization Act, was co-sponsored by Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin (D) of Baltimore.

The full House approved a similar bill last year. Senate and House leaders still must negotiate any differences if the Senate passes a bill.

Staff Writers Margie Hyslop and Janel Davis contributed to this report.