When King County’s Solid Waste Division (SWD) put out a contract to build the new Shoreline Recycling and Transfer Station eight years ago, there wasn’t a specific goal or target for including small businesses in the project.

“We paid a contractor $24 million, but we don’t know what went to a small firm,” said Ann McFarlane, a contract specialist for SWD.

Today, King County agencies are working to make sure that there are more opportunities for small, disadvantaged, and minority- and women-owned businesses to compete for and obtain County contracts – a result of the Procurement Reform Initiative launched by King County Executive Dow Constantine to make it easier for vendors and contractors to do business with King County.

For SWD’s recently-redeveloped Bow Lake Recycling and Transfer Station 25 percent of the $41 million contract went to certified small contractors and suppliers.

McFarlane said the awareness of dealing with small business has greatly increased since putting in small business contract requirements.

“I think the King County Small Business Program has come a long way,” McFarlane said.

The percentage that goes to small businesses is determined by the Business Development and Contract Compliance group (BDCC) in the Department of Executive Services. The BDCC’s goal is to “retain, expand, create and recruit businesses within industry clusters that are core to the region’s economic base and offer the greatest potential for growth.”

When creating a contract for a project, departments and agencies fill out a form that describes the scope of work. The BDCC then determines the subcontracting tasks within the scope of work, and the availability of small businesses to do the work before establishing a specific required percentage of participation by these small contractors and suppliers. If there are a lot of areas where a small business could do the work, the BDCC considers this information in conducting their analysis to set the percentage of participation.

“All we have to do is fill in a form and they (BDCC) set the requirements,” McFarlane said. “It has become so easy and the requirements have grown larger.”

In order for a small business to be eligible for a contract, they have to undergo a certification process to become a Small Contractor and Supplier (SCS) with the County. The SCS certification also applies for the Port of Seattle, the Seattle College District and Sound Transit.

“That makes it more attractive for a business to get certified,” McFarlane said.

McFarlane also mentioned that SWD’s smaller work order contracts under $100,000 mostly go to certified SCS firms, a job made easier by the County’s Small Business Accelerator program that allows certified SCS firms to compete among themselves for designated contracts.

King County Information Technology (KCIT) has also made great progress with its outreach and use of small businesses. Despite not having an exact goal for small business contracts, KCIT is working to educate small business owners on how they can compete for and win contracts with the county.

“One of the things we’re doing is hosting a KCIT forum geared toward small businesses,” Bryan Johnson, Senior IT Contract Specialist III said.

Johnson said it can be daunting for small businesses to try and navigate getting a government contract, and the forums allow KCIT to reach out to small firms and educate them on the types of services that the County may need in the future.

“The goal is to be clearer around the County’s vision and what technologies we’re into,” Johnson said. “We’d like to increase the numbers with small businesses.”

According to Johnson, bids for KCIT contracts under $25,000 typically go to small businesses.  For example, a recent contract for 1,000 new Lync phones was fulfilled by a certified SCS business.

The next KCIT forum is on May 27 at the Chinook Building, and approximately 300 invitations have been sent. Find out more here.