Certified Woman
Business Enterprise WBE
Currently, each state
agency/educational institution has
the authority to establish voluntary
goals on individual
contracts/procurements. When they
do, prospective bidders/proposers
are alerted that a specific level of
WBE utilization has been deemed
achievable on a specific
contract/procurement. However,
meeting the goal(s) is not a
requirement or even a factor to be
considered in determining who is
awarded the contract/procurement.
Does OMWBE hold state
agencies/educational institutions
accountable for meeting annual WBE
goals?
OMWBE reports the annual
M
/ WBE {a.k.a. woman owned business }
WBE goal achievement to the
Governor, Legislature and State
Auditor. While OMWBE itself has no
authority to sanction state agencies
and educational institutions if they
fail to meet their annual WBE goals,
these entities are responsible for
carrying out all duties and
responsibilities prescribed by
statute and regulations, including
the duty to meet annual WBE goals
set by OMWBE regulations. The goals enable the
agencies/educational institutions'
efforts to be tracked. Agencies can
then be held accountable for the
results of their efforts and OMWBE
can design narrowly-tailored
programs to ensure all sectors of
the State's business community have
access to State contracting and
procurement without regard to
preference or discrimination.
What WBE bid/solicitation
clauses are not permissible?
Provisions that condition award
of a contract upon attainment of the
WBE goals established for a specific
contract/procurement cannot be used,
nor can clauses indicating points
will be awarded to a bidder whose
proposal includes WBE utilization
equal to the stated goals.
Provisions that allow a
contract/procurement to be awarded
to a bidder whose proposal included
WBE utilization equal to the state
goals, notwithstanding that the bid
was not the lowest dollar amount.
More about Women
Business Enterprise
WBE ...
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