Small Businesses Get Their Share of METRO Contracts

Now that we're in an official recession, many small businesses may be wondering how they will survive.

METRO wants all small businesses to know that it is committed to making sure small businesses and disadvantaged businesses get their fair share of contract work.

Here's how committed we are:

In fiscal year 2008, $75.4 million out of $213 million of eligible contracts were awarded to small and disadvantaged businesses that qualified under METRO's  Small/Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program. That's 35.3 percent of the total  contract money awarded. A breakdown by ethnicity shows the following percentage of money committed:

Asian - 14.90 percent of money committed to small business,or 5.2 percent of total contract money

Black - 19.80 percent of money committed or 7 percent of total contract money

Caucasian - 34.70 percent of money committed, or 12.3percent of total contract money

Hispanic - 29.60 percent of money committed, or 10.4 percentof total contract money

Native American - 1 percent of money committed, or 0.4percent of total contract money

"As a public agency, METRO recognizes that small businesses need opportunities to obtain a fair proportion of our procurement business," says Deborah Richard, vice president of administration. "As a result, we have developed METRO's Small Business/Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Policy, to ensure that all segments of the business community, regardless of size, have the opportunity to participate fully and fairly in our procurement and contracting activities."

More than 90 percent of the small business contractors we did business with for preliminary engineering and advanced design services for the four light-rail lines were local businesses in FY07 and FY08. The total amount received by local small business contractors for this work was $25,076,504. The four light-rail lines are: East End, Southeast, North and Uptown. METRO's fiscal year starts Oct. 1 and ends Sept. 30. 

Every year, from fiscal year 2004 through fiscal year 2008,we have increased the dollar amount of our contracts to SBE/DBEs.  In FY04, $22.4 million program eligible contracts went to SBE/DBEs; FY05, $23.5 million; FY06, $49.6 million; FY07, $47.7 million; and FY08,$75.4 million.

METRO has also been exceeding the minimum federal requirements for participation of disadvantaged business enterprises. The minimum federal requirement is 10 percent, while METRO's annual goal for DBE is21 percent, says Richard.

To be qualified to do business with METRO, a small business must become certified by METRO or must be certified by one of the reciprocal agencies whose certification METRO accepts. That includes certification by the city of Houston, the TexasUnified Certification Program or the Small BusinessAdministration's 8(a) Program.

Click here to find out how to do business with METRO.  Click here to find out how to become certified.