DBE ACHIEVEMENT Met Council PFA funded projects:

Background DBE Achievement - Met Council PFA funded projects ( ) 2 Met Council Environmental Services (MCES) receives Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) financial assistance agreements through the Minnesota Public Facilities Authority (PFA) for some professional / technical and construction projects As the recipient of these funds MCES is required to follow EPA’s Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) program for PFA funded contracts To comply with the EPA’s DBE program the Met Council’s Office of Diversity and Equal Opportunity (ODEO) is responsible for: Setting DBE Goals for Met Council projects/contracts Evaluating bids/proposals on MCES contracts that have goals Monitoring DBE program compliance through lifetime of contract

The EPA DBE Program DBE Achievement - Met Council PFA funded projects ( ) 3 Requires Contractors to break up or “de-bundle” contracts into small subcontracts Requires Prime firms to solicit bid/proposals from DBE firms Requires DBE Firms must be certified; the Met Councils achieves this through the Minnesota Unified Certification Program (MnUCP). Currently approximately 700 DBE firms are certified. Set’s aspirational DBE goals for projects/contracts. Goals are not a quota or a set-aside. Goals are further separated into targets for Women Business Enterprise (WBE) Minority Business (MBE)

The MCES DBE Program DBE Achievement - Met Council PFA funded projects ( ) 4 In 2009, the MCES DBE program changed from WBE/MBE program to the DBE program In July 2009, the EPA approved MCES DBE program to: Adopt USDOT DBE guidelines which provides a unified program for our bidders / proposers and the DBE community Allow Met Council to set DBE goals. In July 2010, the Met Council set goals to be effective through % for WBE 5% for MBE

The MCES DBE Program (cont.) DBE Achievement - Met Council PFA funded projects ( ) 5 The low Bidder / Proposer for MCES contracts may pass the DBE evaluation by: Committing to meet the DBE goals by identifying DBEs and contract amounts at time of bid Demonstrating they performed “Good Faith Efforts” in attempting to find DBEs to meet the goal

DBE Achievement on MCES Contracts DBE Achievement - Met Council PFA funded projects ( ) 6 From April 2006 – October 2011, ODEO assigned DBE goals on 37 MCES contracts. The contracts were for a variety of services 15 contracts were for professional / technical services 22 contracts were for construction services

DBE Achievement on MCES Contracts DBE Achievement - Met Council PFA funded projects ( ) 7 For the 37 contracts; ODEO passed the bidder/proposer : By meeting the DBE goals (21 contracts) By meeting Good Faith Efforts (16)

DBE Achievement on MCES Contracts DBE Achievement - Met Council PFA funded projects ( ) 8 In order for Bidders / Proposers to pass DBE evaluation on Good Faith Efforts, they must provide documentation showing : Contracts were de-bundled Subcontracting opportunities were advertised Quotes were solicited from DBEs Subcontracts were awarded to non-DBEs only when their bid was substantially lower Since 2008, 5 low Bidders / Proposers have failed evaluation due to insufficient Good Faith Efforts 4 were awarded to 2 nd low or successfully re-bid and met the goal / Good Faith Efforts 1 was re-bid as direct equipment procurement, this did not have goals

DBE Achievement on MCES Contracts DBE Achievement - Met Council PFA funded projects ( ) 9 Of the 37 contracts approved since 2008, 13 have been completed. 6 of the 13 passed evaluation by committing to meet goals at time of bid Average DBE goal commitment 17% at time of bid Average DBE utilization 18% at project close 6 of the 13 passed evaluation by Good Faith Efforts at time of bid Average DBE goal commitment 7% at time of bid Average DBE utilization 9% at project close

DBE Achievement on Completed MCES Contracts DBE Achievement - Met Council PFA funded projects ( ) 10 The value of 13 completed MCES contracts with DBE goals = $44,610,434 The value of subcontracts to DBE subcontractors = $4,281,951 (10%)

Improving MCES DBE Program DBE Achievement - Met Council PFA funded projects ( ) 11 ODEO and MCES Technical Services Department working together to better understand DBE market and plan projects appropriately ODEO working with DBE community to increase bidding on MCES projects ODEO and MCES working with Bidders / Proposers to better understand DBE program Since 2009, percentage of bids / proposals that meet the goals at time of bid have increased

MCES DBE Program – Ideas Moving Forward DBE Achievement - Met Council PFA funded projects ( ) 12 Introduction of Met Council TGB program – Companion program – reinforces message that Met Council contracting opportunities are for all qualified companies Goal Setting by Project – MC ES projects include a variety of work scopes. Setting goals on a project by project basis might result in Primes meeting goals more frequently Training MC ES Staff – MC ES staff, CARs and Project Managers trained to assist in DBE compliance and monitoring

Questions & Comments DBE Achievement - Met Council PFA funded projects ( ) 13 Wanda Kirkpatrick Director of Diversity and Equal Opportunity Metropolitan Council