Gov. Bob McDonnell has created a Governor’s Supplier Diversity Advisory Board to revamp Virginia’s procurement process for small and minority-owned businesses.
The board will develop recommendations on how the state can increase the number of state contracts awarded to small, women and minority-owned (SWAM) businesses.
Virginia’s Secretary of Administration Lisa M. Hicks-Thomas will chair the board, which includes 18 business owners, business representatives and members of the governor’s administration. Additional members will be added in the next few weeks.
The board will first meet on Tuesday.
The board includes:
• Del. Kenneth Alexander, Virginia House of Delegates; Owner & CEO, Metropolitan Funeral Service
• John Biagas, president & CEO, Bay Electric Co. Inc.
• Al Bowers, CEO of Bowers Family Enterprises LLC
• Bill Cooper, director of supplier diversity, University of Virginia
• Julia Hammond, Virginia director, National Federation of Independent Business
• W. Christopher Harvey, vice president of hotel development, Armada Hoffler
• Cecil Hobbs, EVP & Commercial Lending, Townebank
• Tracey G. Jeter, president and CEO, Virginia Minority Supplier Development Council
• Ken Johnson, owner and founder of Johnson Inc.
• Clovia Lawrence, metro community development specialist and Radio One on-air personality
• Ida McPherson, director, Virginia Department of Minority Business Enterprise
• Dr. Mary Guy Miller, president, Interactive Design and Development Inc.
• Bob Sledd, governor’s senior economic advisor
• Peter Su, director, Virginia Department of Business Assistance
• Del. Ron Villanueva, Virginia House of Delegates; executive vice president, SEK Solutions
• Mark Whitaker, associate professor at Hampton University & member, Portsmouth City Public School Board
• Angela Wilkes, director, diversity and small business liaison officer, Owens & Minor
• Michel Zajur, CEO, Virginia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
It’s fine to make sure contracting programs are open to all, that bidding opportunities are widely publicized beforehand, and that no one gets discriminated against because of skin color, national origin, or sex. But that means no preferences because of skin color, etc. either—whether it’s labeled a “set-aside,“ a “quota,“ or a “goal,“ since they all end up amounting to the same thing. Such discrimination is unfair and divisive; it costs the taxpayers money to award a contract to someone other than the lowest bidder; and it’s almost always illegal-indeed, unconstitutional-to boot (see 42 U.S.C. section 1981 and this model brief: http://community.pacificlegal.org/Page.aspx?pid=1342 ). Those who insist on engaging in such discrimination deserve to be sued, and they will lose. I hope state attorney general Ken Cuccinelli will be keeping an eye on these folks.
--Roger Clegg of Falls Church
Aug. 17, 2010 at 08:48 AM
I work for the commonwealth and SWAM is a joke.
Anyone can set up a front (and they do) and simply purchase supplies from a big box store and resell them. Our office may not buy office equipment from Staples, but we may buy with the same equipment from a SWAM front that buys from Staples and resells with a mark-up. In the end it’s more expensive for the commonwealth.
Another example. My office wants to purchase a Project Management System. Most good ones online cost about $1200 a year (Basecamp, Deskaway etc). But we must do an RFP and get companies that specialize in state contracts to bid. These companies provided bids for between $8,000 and $300,000 a year for inferior services. According to the current system we would be breaking the rules by purchasing the cheaper and better software. But buy an overpriced $60,000 system and we’re all good.
It kills productivity and efficiency inside the system and kills innovation and the free market outside.
If Cuccinelli and the governor are true free market conservatives this system has to go.
--sdm of Newport News, VA
Oct. 4, 2010 at 03:09 PM