Small Business Enterprise Program
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The Fort Bend Independent School District’s Small Business Enterprise Program (“SBEP”) provides increased business opportunities for locally certified small businesses to participate in contracting and procurement at the District. FBISD has set an annual SBEP participation goal of twenty-five (25%) percent of the dollar amount of all SBEP-eligible contracts. FBISD recognizes that individual actual participation may vary based on subcontracting opportunities, availability of small businesses, and price competitiveness. The participation goal may change from year to year based on all relevant factors considered by the FBISD Board of Trustees.
The SBEP is a goal-oriented program, requiring contractors to whom the District awards prime contracts for construction services valued at $50,000 or greater to use, at a minimum, “Good Faith Efforts” to utilize certified small businesses subcontractors, suppliers and consultants. The SBEP is a race and gender neutral program, open to participation without regard to race, color, sex, religion, national or ethnic origin, age or disability.
Program Definitions
The U.S. Small Business Administration defines “Small Business” as an entity for which the gross revenues or number of employees averaged over the past three years, including any affiliates as defined by 13 C.F.R. § 121.103, does not exceed the size standards as defined pursuant to Section 3 of the Small Business Act and 13 C.F.R. § 121.201, and for which the net worth of each owner does not exceed $1.32 million, excluding principal residence and the value of the small business.
Certification
Any business wishing to be identified by Fort Bend Independent School District as a small business shall be certified as such by the following certification program(s):
To be eligible as a “Small Business” under the SBEP, a business must have one of the following eligible small business certifications:
- Port of Houston Authority SBE Certification;
- Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County (METRO) SBE Certification;
- City of Houston SBE Certification; or
- Any other certification agency specified by FBISD in the procurement solicitation, as may be appropriate for the particular procurement and determined by the Superintendent or designee.
Small Business Initiatives
For All Bond Construction Solicitations
All solicitations issued by the District include a Small Business Program Participation Form (Section J) that is to be completed and submitted with the bid response. The section asks for the small business classification of the business entity. The section also asks each business entity to state if it will be performing alone or will be using subcontractors.
For Construction Projects
All prospective construction general contractors shall submit with their solicitation response a Small Business Plan. The Plan should include information concerning subcontracting opportunities the subcontractor will pursue if awarded a contract with FBISD.
Source www.fortbendisd.com
