Committee Will Hear 12% of City Bids Worth $22 Million Annually Are Awarded to Pasadena Businesses

The Pasadena City Council’s Economic Development and Technology (EDTech) Committee will report Thursday, February 25, on the progress of efforts by the City to reach out to local businesses and encourage them to participate in the bidding process for City projects.

According to a preliminary review of procurement data for the year 2019, about 12 percent of City bids – amounting to over $22 million – were secured by Pasadena-based businesses. The City spends over $200 million a year on procurement contracts bid out to mostly Southern California-based businesses.

Under the Pasadena Municipal Code, the City gives some amount of preference for Pasadena businesses when competing for City contracts. The code allows for local preference for competitively bid contracts since the City will also receive a percentage of the sales tax revenue.

The Municipal Code defines a local business as “a business with a fixed place of business located in the City.”

To ensure that local businesses are informed of City procurement opportunities, the City uses both a “traditional procurement” process, which starts with publishing advertisements, disseminating bid documents and actually receiving vendor proposals; and  Planet Bids, an online web-based solicitation posting system that disseminates formal solicitations.

Planet Bids matches solicitations with the profiles of businesses that are self-registered in the system. The system enables staff to target Pasadena businesses during the solicitation process and encourages them to bid as a prime contractor.

The Finance Department said an average of 50 Pasadena businesses have registered with Planet Bids since 2010. Today, there are over 1,000 Pasadena businesses registered in the platform, with 195 of them having done business with the City.

Formal solicitations for City projects are also advertised in the local newspapers in accordance with the Pasadena Municipal Code.

Additionally, the City has been sending notifications to various outreach partners to help redistribute notice of procurement opportunities to their members. These outreach partners include the Pasadena Chamber of Commerce, the Pasadena Armenian National Committee, and the National Association for Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

The Department also assists small-scale Pasadena businesses in connecting with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) through annual outreach events.

The Finance Department’s report showed there has been a significant increase in the number of formal solicitations for projects beginning at $25,000 since 2012 – from 40 solicitations up to over 200 in 2020.

In addition to the increased volume of formal solicitations, the Finance Department has also strategically begun to use electronic bid submissions for all solicitations where a bid bond is not required.

The City also sets up some “informal selection” procedures, where purchasing materials and supplies locally is set as a priority.

In accordance with the Municipal Code, purchases from $2,999 and below require only one quote. Since January 2020, City departments have been expected to first solicit quotes from Pasadena businesses only. They can solicit bids outside of Pasadena only when no bids are obtained from Pasadena businesses.

The other means by which the City reaches out to local businesses include “Doing Business with the City” workshops, where the local businesses receive presentations on procurement procedures; and one-on-one meetings, in case of potential opportunities that may be unique to local products and services.

The Finance Department said more than 20 one-on-one meetings are held per year to ensure Pasadena businesses are adequately informed of procurement opportunities.

The Pasadena Small Business Development Center (SDBC) participates in these events and provides one-on-one meetings to increase awareness of the City’s procurement opportunities, its basic requirements, and reduce potential errors when responding to solicitations.

Due to the pandemic, a 2021 workshop will be hosted virtually, with the schedule to be announced later.

To access the EDTech Committee meeting on Thursday, go to http://pasadena.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?publish id=9 or www.pasadenamedia.org/.

Members of the public may submit comments of any length to sarobles@cityofpasadena.net prior to Thursday.

On the day of the meeting, comments may be sent through www.cityofpasadena.net/commissions/public-comment.