Establish purchasing preferences that support local, Minority, Disability, and Women-Owned businesses and, working with a local business association, develop a list of locally-produced products and suppliers for common purchases.
Best Practice of this action
Rating Guideline
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By practice, seek to purchase locally and support Minority, Disability, and Women-owned businesses; develop a list of locally-produced products and those from Minority, Disability, and Women-owned businesses for use by city staff; make the list available to residents and businesses. |
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Achieve 1 Star rating AND require purchase of a set percentage of city government purchases to be from the list. |
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Develop a list in conjunction with adjacent communities (cities or counties) to recognize regional economic base and increase diversity of goods and products on the list. |
Resources
- Local purchasing resources from the MN-based Institute for Local Self-Reliance.
- Minnesota's Cooperative Purchasing Venture (CPV) (see if you are already a member) allows eligible entities to purchase goods, certain services and utilities from contracts established by the Office of State Procurement (OSP) for Minnesota state agencies. OSP contracts with vendors to provide goods, services and utilities to state agencies. This program creates a legal relationship so that eligible entities, such as cities and tribal governments, can use these contracts just like state agencies.
- The State of Minnesota Office of Equity in Procurement helps ensure greater equity in state contracting and construction. It promotes opportunities to do business with the state, and provide assistance to small businesses owned by women, minorities, people with substantial physical disabilities, and veterans as they seek state contracts. More than 1,000 small businesses are certified as veteran-owned, economically disadvantaged, or targeted group businesses in Minnesota based on the business's ownership by woman, minority, person with a substantial physical disability, or by its location in an economically disadvantaged area. Help a business sign up as a preferred vendor. The commissioner of the Department of Administration periodically designates businesses that are majority-owned and operated by women, persons with a substantial physical disability, or specific minorities as targeted group businesses within purchasing categories as determined by the commissioner. Click here for eligibility information and access to the application form.
Order Number
3