COVID-19 has wrought unprecedented challenges that have and continue to affect us in profoundly different ways. The unforeseen circumstances resulting from the pandemic have been felt by our small business community. And the lasting implications for elected officials at the local, state, and national levels have likewise been extreme. For Bexar County, the decision to mandate stay-at-home orders as well as require restrictive social distancing and maximum occupancy standards were measured responses to a highly communicable and rapidly progressing disease.
Bexar County’s Annual SMWVBO Conference Connects Small Businesses to Billions of Dollars in Contract Opportunities
Bexar County’s Small Business & Entrepreneurship Department (SBED), led by Renee Watson, understood that at the beginning of the pandemic, Bexar County’s small business community was not equipped to implement those edicts as ordered by Commissioner’s Court, so in addition to other efforts, launched the PPE Essential Items Program. Utilizing comprehensive metrics concerning a business’ viability with the new COVID safety protocols mandated by Bexar County, nearly 10,000 small businesses within the county’s borders were provided gallons of hand sanitizer, nitrile gloves, facemasks, touchless thermometers, cleaning supplies, and more at no cost. As additional supplies were made available, these too were dispersed among local business owners to include 2,000 individual sheets of Plexiglas. As County Judge Nelson Wolff continued to extend emergency orders requiring facemasks for businesses, SBED went on to host drive-up giveaways at strategic locations throughout Bexar County’s four precincts. In all, more than one million facemasks would be distributed to small businesses via SBED’s various distribution programs. “Words cannot begin to describe the pain felt by our small businesses,” said Watson. “SBED is more than just a faceless government department. These are our neighbors, and our efforts will continue to reflect that.”
Beyond the provision of PPE and essential items, Bexar County’s SBED continues to make a concerted effort to connect small business with contracting opportunities, regardless of the venue. “COVID hurt our community, but it didn’t stop commerce. Just as our small businesses had to adapt to virtual offerings and venues, so did the SBED mission,” Watson said. Already aggressive in the social media landscape, Bexar County’s SBED immediately began to coordinate a series of virtual ‘Meet the Buyer’ events. Traditionally, an in-person presentation, SBED expanded its invited speakers to include internal departments as well as partner agencies and general contractors to virtual meeting platforms, moderated with ample Q&A periods. Watson expressed, “As it was apparent COVID-19 was going to be present for some time, we saw that our small business community needed the work. The idea that we could not convene a physical meeting to have our partner agencies and stakeholders communicate what work was available was simply not acceptable. Through the SBED’s diligence and efforts and with comments and feedback from the ‘Meet the Buyers’ series, this expanded our full slate of programming and resources available to small businesses. One of our goals as a results-driven department is to continue to see our small businesses thrive throughout the COVID pandemic and after.” With topics ranging from guidance on completing Payment Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) applications direct from the Small Business Administration to understanding relief options from the Bexar County Tax Assessor Collector, SBED has remained committed to keeping the small business community apprised of topical, relevant resources and contracting opportunities.
“After nearly two years of virtual programming, we are excited that the 2021 SMWVBO Conference will be in-person. The SBED and our partners are ready to host this annual event that connects small businesses to a platform that has billions of dollars in contract opportunities. With COVID-19 mitigation protocols in place, this will be a safe experience for our attendees. SBED is more than just a faceless government department. The small business community is our neighbors, and this year’s conference in addition to our other efforts will continue to reflect that.” – Renee Watson, Director of the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Department for Bexar County
Continuing the focus on virtual programming, Bexar County’s Annual Small, Minority, Women and Veteran Business Owners (SMWVBO) Conference was moved to an exclusively online format in December 2020. “Our event hosts around 5,000 people annually. For 20 years now our local business owners, partner agencies, and stakeholders have been marking their calendars, knowing a tremendous networking opportunity, the only one of its kind is available just after Thanksgiving,” Watson said. Thanks in large part to an ongoing partnership with Microsoft, Bexar County SBED expanded the annual conference into a three-day event complete with presentations from agencies offering small business assistance, with a focus on COVID-19 economic recovery. SBED’s Data & Contract Compliance Manager James Massey provides some insight into the logistics of last year’s virtual conference. “It was a difficult task. In addition to live remarks from prominent speakers, we offered concurrent live presentations from strategic partners. So as to ensure focus was not taken from the live events, we prerecorded 60 exhibitors speaking about current contracting opportunities and hosted links to those spots on the conference landing page, accessible at any time.” Watson added, “I cannot say enough about Terri Williams and the Center for Government Contracting. That conversation, ‘I am here to sell, well, I am here to buy,’ it’s hard to replicate that. But thanks to the Matchmaking software solution offered by Dr. Williams’ program over the entirety of the three-day virtual conference, I think we came close.”
After nearly two years of virtual programming, SBED plans to return to its annual in-person format for the 2021 SMWVBO Conference on December 8, 2021. The conference will be held at the Freeman Coliseum Expo Hall located at 3201 E. Houston, San Antonio, Texas 78219. “We think the community is anxious, but ready for this,” said Watson. “We have met with the venue and each of our service providers a number of times. We have COVID-19 mitigation protocols in place and communicated those to our exhibitors, with social distancing measures in our floor planning. We are ready.” Featured as the SMWVBO’s keynote speaker in its inaugural return to an in-person format will be Rodney Strong, the principal owner of Griffin & Strong, P.C., who most recently performed Bexar County’s Disparity & Availability Study, reviewing the County’s procurement practices and utilization from fiscal years 2014 – 2019. Though engaged in previous studies, the Griffin & Strong Study is the first to have been accepted and adopted by Bexar County Commissioner’s Court and is currently in its implementation phase. While Strong’s remarks will mostly focus upon the Study’s findings, particularly those concerning the availability of diverse contractors and small business owners, a significant number of changes promise to be enacted from its implementation, including a focus on data collection and compliance.
With the adoption of the Fiscal Year 2022 budget, Bexar County’s Commissioners Court authorized the addition of three Contract Compliance Specialists as well as a Data & Contract Compliance Manager to the SBED. Combined with regraded positions now serving as Data Support Specialists, actions taken in the budget process have fomented a data collection and compliance team which will monitor opportunities and contracts from project creation to project closeout. As the Bexar County Commissioners Court continues to consider the adoption of race conscious goal setting, the data collection and compliance team will begin reviewing expenditures executed by Bexar County Purchasing as well as the Bexar County Auditor’s Office to review process as well as utilization. By contract and by purchase order, regardless of industry and operating without specified thresholds, SBED’s efforts are intended to ultimately document and demonstrate Bexar County’s utilization of local diverse vendors, while also offering some analytics on the efficacy of the department’s outreach measures.
To accommodate the new positions and team, SBED has recently relocated from the Paul Elizondo Tower to 203 W. Nueva San Antonio, Texas 78207: still a stone’s throw from the historic County Courthouse. Regarding SBED’s recent move, Watson stated, “Commissioners Court has invested heavily in our efforts to document and detail that the County’s engagement of local and diverse firms goes beyond our prime or first tier spend. The addition to our team and with the move, we look forward to producing results commensurate to the Court’s investment.” As demonstrated by the department’s COVID response to small business, both in supply distribution and virtual programming and highlighted annually by the SMWVBO Conference, SBED remains dedicated to producing dynamic and impactful results.
Regardless of the ever-changing economic conditions, Watson and the SBED team hold steadfast in its mission to connect businesses to opportunities, and now with the addition of a data and compliance team, illustrates the efforts and impact of those opportunities within the community.
For more information about the Bexar County Small Business & Entrepreneurship Department and the upcoming Small, Minority, Women and Veteran Business Owners Conference on December 8th, please visit www.bexar.org.
