Houston Community Colleg’s Procurment Operations Department has improved its Small Business Development Program (SBDP). With the additions, its provided greater opportunity to certified small businesses that participate in the procurement process at junior institution.
Part of those expansions included the City of Houston MBE (minority), WBE (women), PDBE (person with disabilities) and DBE (disadvantaged). This is an extension of the SBE certifications for the City of Houston, Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County (METRO), Texas Department of Transportation, City of Austin, South Central Texas Regional Certification Agency and Small Business Administration 8(a).
Earlier in March, HCC hosted a Procurement Expo with a mission to bring awareness to the procurement and contracting opportunities at Houston Community College (HCC). “One of the ways we accomplish this is by hosting ‘Access to HCC’ annually,” said Veronica Douglas who manages the SBDP department.
“Each year we invite our internal client departments, such as Information Technology, Facilities, Talent Engagement and our Community Partners, which are comprised of state, county and local governments, as well as schools, colleges and non-profit agencies to participate as exhibitors.
Veronica Douglas
The exhibit welcomed over 400 attendees. Following breakfast, keynote Ret. Staff Sergeant Earl Granville spoke on behalf of the role of the exhibitor, opportunities and more. Granville has received numerous awards for his volunteer work and his speaking, including the 2018 Attorney General Heart So Big Award, 2018 Daughters of the American Revolution Veterans Volunteer Award, the Combat Infantryman Badge and the Purple Heart. This year’s expo featured a virtual paint booth, a photo booth, 27 HCC and 19 community partner exhibitors.
Prior to congregating atmospheres during the pandemic, the SBDP didn’t want to stop hosting “Access to HCC”. As we know, meeting in person a few years ago was not an option.
The SBDP worked with the IT Department to hold “Access to HCC” virtually on the Microsoft TEAMS platform. The virtual expo turned out to be a success and at that time it was the largest TEAMS event HCC held. The following year, the IT Team transitioned “Access to HCC” from virtual to a hybrid platform allowing attendees to choose their participation style. The final honoree, this year, went to HCC-TV.
Several years ago, a casual conversation with Willie Bryant, HCC-TV Media Planner turned into a TV Program called “It’s Your Business”. “It’s Your Business” was created to highlight our local small businesses participating in procurement opportunities at HCC. During the pandemic HCC paused taping. However, taping resumed taping in February culiminating in 55 successful episodes.
“If you are serious about doing business with HCC, you can’t afford to miss “Access to HCC” This free, well-planned expo allows you ample time to network with representatives from state, county and local governments, as well as schools, colleges and non-profit agencies,” Douglas detailed about HCC’s mission.
She added, “To bring awareness to the procurement opportunities at HCC as well as allow the attendees an opportunity to network and connect with HCC internal client partners as well as our community partners. Another goal of “Access to HCC” is to inform the bidder community about Bonfire, the bidder database. An active bidder application in Bonfire (hccs.edu/procurement) is required for automatic email notifications of procurement opportunities. The goal of the Procurement Department is to create a competitive procurement environment. Bonfire assists in accomplishing this goal.
Douglas explained that since last year, many changes and procedures to HCC’s programs have been implemented to help the small business community,
“The SBDP rolled out a Constant Contact newsletter for anyone interested in learning more about our program. Please subscribe at hccs.edu/sbdp.” the veteran procurement operations said. “Bidders interested in doing business with HCC are encouraged to register as a bidder on the Procurement website hssc.edu/procurement. Please know that these are 2 separate registries. One is for receiving automatic bid notifications and the other is a newsletter produced by the SBDP.”
Though the event is hosted annually in March, “Access to HCC” is a free and open to anyone interested in doing business with HCC and/or its community partners. The expo is held at the HCC West Houston Institute. “Access to HCC” features our largest end users and provides attendees with an opportunity to meet face to face with exhibitors introducing their respective businesses and the product and/or service they provide.
Source: Veronica Douglas, SBDP Manger for HCC
