Hundreds of North Texas companies are now certified as “small businesses,” months after Fort Worth launched a new program in August to replace its goals to hire women- and minority-owned firms.
The city’s certification program includes a 30% small business enterprise goal for Fort Worth-area construction projects in Tarrant, Denton, Johnson, Parker and Wise counties.
“A major focus of the program is developing small contractors to enable them to participate in city infrastructure construction projects,” officials wrote in a staff report. “The city invests hundreds of millions of dollars annually in water and sewer infrastructure, street and stormwater improvements, and other public works construction. However, small contractors often face challenges related to bonding, insurance, technical expertise, and bidding processes that limit their participation.”
The city suspended its DEI initiatives last year to comply with federal orders. Companies, both large and small, certified as a small business enterprise are eligible for a 5% bid preference on contracts up to $100,000. For contracts over $100,000, the city has a 30% utilization target.
City officials said the new small business certification gives companies greater visibility, access to bid opportunities, and makes connections to resources, training, mentorship and matchmaking support easier.
As of March 4, there are 655 Small Business Enterprise-certified entities across the five-county region, according to the report. Most of those — 476 — are in Tarrant County, with 128 in Denton, 34 in Johnson, nine in Wise and eight in Parker counties.
“There’s been a lot of demand for businesses going through certification,” Jessica Rogers, director of the city’s Economic Development Department, told council members.
To expedite the certifications, the city started a six-month pilot program with North Central Texas Regional Certification Agency, or NCTRCA, for $96,250. The agency provides one dedicated certification officer in addition to support to accelerate the review of SBE certification applications. The city also covered expedited fees for up to 95 businesses.
“This program has made significant progress in meeting its goals, with NCTRCA reporting that 85 expedited SBE certifications have been approved, with some turnaround times as fast as 24 hours, allowing those firms faster access to city procurement opportunities,” officials wrote in the report.
Over the past six months, the city’s Economic Development Department worked with other municipal departments and partners to create a framework for the Small Business Development Program.
City officials entered into 13-month contracts with three local institutions, the Fort Worth Metropolitan Black Chamber of Commerce, the Fort Worth Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Fort Worth Chamber, to develop small business programming that includes access to resources and assistance in navigating Fort Worth’s procurement system.
The heads of the three chambers told Fort Worth City Council members at a work session April 7 that they are working together to advance the small business certifications.
The city’s contracts with the Black and Hispanic chambers are for $270,000 each while the contract with the Fort Worth Chamber is for $185,000.
Michelle Green-Ford, president and CEO of the Metropolitan Black chamber, said the elimination of DEI goals put businesses in “unchartered waters,” but local leaders rose to the challenge to publicize certifications.
She thanked council members for allocations to promote certifications and said the partnership has been fruitful.
“The pieces are in place to be successful,” Green-Ford said.
Added Steve Montgomery, president and CEO of the Fort Worth Chamber: “This has been a great project.”
The report said the Fort Worth Hispanic chamber exceeded its goals by assisting more than 60 businesses while supporting another 30 to meet the agreement goals. The efforts led to one contract being awarded and 37 others in the pipeline.
Ericka Garza, president and CEO of the Hispanic chamber, said the project has been “incredible” as the chambers work together.
The Fort Worth Chamber also worked to assist contractors with networking opportunities and supported the workshop programming from the other two chambers.
“FWC plans to work in partnership with the other two chambers to identify five members from each of their respective chambers that can benefit from a future succession planning training cohort that will take place at Tarrant County College,” the city report said.
Fort Worth also launched a small business advisory board that includes local chamber of commerce members, construction associations, certifying entities and city staffers.
The city’s Small Contractor Development Program, part of the Small Business Development Program, was also highlighted in a city report.
The most recent example of how the new program works came in December when the city issued a request for proposals. Eighteen responses were received and three vendors were declared nonresponsive for failing to submit required documents.
A panel of city representatives that included the city manager’s office evaluated the bids, scored submissions and held interviews with seven applicants.
After evaluation, the panel determined HUB International Insurance Services Inc. presented the best value for the city. A $250,000 contract with HUB will be considered by the City Council on April 28.
Eric E. Garcia is senior business reporter at the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at eric.garcia@fortworthreport.org.
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