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Local Business Preference Ordinance <br />March 5, 2012 <br />Page 5 <br />In this scenario the Orange County business would be awarded the contract as its total <br />evaluation points would become the highest with the local preference. As in scenario number <br />one above, the use of local preference will not affect the final contract amount. <br />Modifications/Adjustments <br />It is recommended that the local preference program be adopted by ordinance, and the percent of <br />preference be adopted by Resolution with seven percent for local businesses and four percent for <br />Orange County businesses. Adopting the specific percentage preference levels by resolution will <br />allow the City Council to modify preference levels as it deems appropriate. <br />Outreach Efforts <br />Recognizing that the final measure of effectiveness for the proposed ordinance will depend on the <br />extent that it is utilized by the local businesses community; staff reached out to local chambers of <br />commerce as well as the Orange County Business Council to seek their input on the proposed <br />ordinance. A summary of the proposed ordinance was sent to the Santa Ana Chamber of <br />Commerce, the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Vietnamese American Chamber of <br />Commerce, the Black Chamber of Commerce and the Orange County Business Council for their <br />review. Responses received to the proposed ordinance were supportive with an official letter of <br />support from the Orange County Business Council (Exhibit 4). <br />Should the proposed ordinance be adopted, additional marketing and outreach will be undertaken to <br />ensure that local businesses are aware of the opportunities provided by this ordinance. One <br />example of this additional outreach would be the creation of an online business registry through the <br />City's website where local businesses could sign up to receive RFPs or bid requests for particular <br />categories of goods or services. Categories in the registry could include: engineering services, <br />financial services, environmental services, office supplies, fleet, information technology and <br />tools/equipment. The City would then send RFP's or bid requests to all businesses that expressed <br />an interest in a particular category. <br />FISCAL IMPACT <br />Based on the information available regarding bids for materials, supplies, labor and equipment <br />and requests for proposals, the estimated fiscal impact would be $26,000 annually (Exhibits 5 & <br />6). It is important to note that while this fiscal impact represents the direct cost to the City as a <br />result of paying higher contracts; it does not account for the numerous economic benefits that <br />local preference ordinances have been shown to have on the local economy. <br />75B-5