Bexar County’s Small Business & Entrepreneurship Department (SBED), led by Renee Watson, continues its concerted effort to connect small businesses with billions of dollars in contracting opportunities. One of the SBED’s initiatives serving Small, Minority, Women, and Veteran Business Owners (SMWVBO) is its annual Bexar County Business Conference held on Wednesday, December 7, 2022, at the Freeman Coliseum Expo Hall located at 3201 E. Houston, San Antonio, Texas 78219.
The SMWVBO Conference is an opportunity for the county Purchasing Department to make direct contact with local vendors. SMWBEs can get their questions answered and meet the buyers who make decisions daily to solicit or recommend awards that will directly impact their business. It also provides a place for other county departments to provide information regarding their services or programs for SMWBEs. They include the County Clerk, Tax Office, District Attorney – Hot Checks Section, and Dispute Resolution Office.
This conference is a forum for SMWVBOs to develop relationships, acquire knowledge, and access opportunities that exist with public and private sector entities for the procurement of construction, professional services, goods, and other services. It is also an opportunity to further enhance the knowledge of procurement staff on the availability and ability of firms with the desire to do business with them.
“After more than 22 years, we continue to successfully connect SMWVBOs to lucrative contract opportunities in various sectors and industries. We highly encourage small businesses to join us on December 7th on this platform providing the opportunity for you to meet with federal, state, and local agencies, plus private companies who want to do business with SMWVBOs.” – Renee Watson, Director of the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Department for Bexar County
Sponsors for this year’s conference:
- CPS Energy
- University Health
- Bexar County Community Arenas
- Bexar County Military & Veterans Services
- The Center for Health Care Services
- San Antonio River Authority
- The City of San Antonio
- Port San Antonio
- San Antonio River Authority
- Alamo NEX Construction
- Edwards Aquifer Authority
- Subcontractors USA
- Spectrum
- Spurs Sports and Entertainment
- VIA Transit
One of the many reasons why this annual event is impactful and effective in linking SMWVBOs to procurement opportunities in various industries and sectors is because the SBED requires all sponsors and exhibitors to have contracting opportunities and/or a registration process available for SMWVBOs.
Q&A With the SBED
What makes this conference different from other similar events held by local chambers? This conference strongly encourages SMWVBOs to spend their time wisely as attendees and not be an exhibitor. Local chamber trade shows are usually designed to enhance member business opportunities through exhibiting. However, the conference is open to anyone who would like to be an exhibitor. The county SMWBE Program Manager has received comments from several SMWVBOs that did exhibit in the past years and now make the effort to attend and visit with the numerous procurement officials. The conference does have several large minority-owned businesses that exhibit each year because they have subcontracting opportunities for other SMWVBOs. Because of the tremendous contributions of the county, city, and sponsors, the event is free to attend and includes meals. The cost to the exhibitor is very reasonable, and it allows local entities to participate which also includes meals for all staff.
Why should an SMWVBO attend? The conference is designed in an attempt to meet the needs of those in several areas:
- A person who owns a business that is available and has the capacity to do business with the public and private sectors
- A person who owns a business that is available, but needs help building the capacity to do business with the public and private sectors
- A person who owns a business that is performing work in the private sector, but has not sought public sector opportunities (and vice versa)
- A person who owns a business and needs help getting technical or financial assistance
- A person who has the desire to start a business and would like to be prepared, being educated about what opportunities and assistance exists
- A person who may be working a day job, but would like to start a business one day in the future
- A person who would like to network with other business owners, public and private sector staff, and leaders, to enhance their development and overall quality of life
Are any new panels/workshops added to this year’s conference that you want to mention? This year includes a luncheon emceed by Jelynne Leblanc Jamison, the president and CEO of the Center for Health Care Services (CHCS), and we have also partnered with CHCS to host a workplace mental health workshop.
Additional workshops and topics include:
- Social Media Strategy
- HR Red Flags
- Cybersecurity
- Marketing To Government Agencies
- UTSA Procurement & Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) for Federal, State, and Local Contracting Opportunities
For breakfast, we are extending the federal panel (Federal Opportunities and Resources). For lunch, keynote speaker Jimmy Holmes, president and publisher of the SA Business Journal will be connecting the dots for public and private sectors for business recovery and growth. We will also be going live on all social media platforms, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube, for people who are unable to attend in person.
Talk about some of your other upcoming 2023 events and programs available, providing information, tools, and resources to these businesses so they have every opportunity to understand the process and do business with the SBED.
We have the Bexar County Supplier and CDMS Training scheduled for January and February 2023 and will roll out the Mentor Protégé Program Operations Boot Camp with completion of the Associated General Contractors of America’s (AGC) Basics in Construction Training. Our department will also be implementing mandatory data collection to increase tracking and reporting of solicitation, awards, and payments with SMWBE/HUB/DBE at the prime and sub-levels for Goods/ Commodities/Other Services, Professional Services, and Construction.
Since last year, are there any new changes, systems, procedures, or programs that have been implemented to help the small business community?
The SBED has had some major changes since last year, including procurement processes and compliance, certification procedures and oversight, and introducing programs to help small businesses recover and grow.
Bexar County is in the process of implementing a race-conscious and more aggressive race-neutral program because of findings in the 2021 Disparity and Availability Study done by Griffin & Strong as adopted by the Bexar County Commissioners Court in December 2021. SBED together with the Purchasing Department is on course to revise the purchasing manual to ensure solicitations and outreach are tracked and prime and subs participate with mandatory data collection for compliance and reporting.
The SBED has brought back the AGC San Antonio Chapter/ Bexar County Basics of Construction. This course is a prerequisite to be considered for the very successful Bexar County/AGC Mentor Protégé Program. In order to ensure compliance and reporting, during the Fiscal Year 2022, the department was increased by five positions, for a total of 12. The additional staff will serve the all-important functions for data collection, compliance, staff and vendor training, and outreach.
Additionally, due to staff outreach efforts and procurement awareness, the vendor sessions are held twice a month for the Bexar County Supplier and Contract and Diversity Management (CDMS) workshops.
Is there anything else that you want to share with our readers?
Since July 2021, the Texas HUB Program has transferred certification services to the Texas Unified Certification Program (TUCP) partners. The South Central Texas Regional Certification Agency provides certification services for local jurisdictions. We highly encourage vendors to pursue reciprocity, and if not currently DBE Certified, to pursue the Federal Certification designations.
This conference has provided more than a billion dollars in direct spending at the prime level to attendees by Bexar County. The department was recognized and commended in the 2021 Disparity and Availability study for this race-neutral outreach event. Because of this partnership with local stakeholders, this conference attracts state and federal agencies to bring their procurement staff with opportunities for face-to-face contact with vendors. The event is free for the public, with no-cost parking and complimentary breakfast and lunch. The SBED is investing in this opportunity for SMWVBOs to grow their business.
To register and for information on the conference, please visit www.Bexar.org/SMWBE.
