Procurement Compliance Bulletin 1.20.2021

Governor's Office of Small, Minority & Women Business Affairs

Procurement Compliance Bulletin

MD OPEN for Business

 

Inside this issue:

A Message From GOSBA
VSBE Program News
MBE Program News
SBR Program News
GOSBA Compliance Updates



1.20.2021


A Message from GOSBA 

By now, you have likely heard about Executive Order 01.01.2021.01 - Increasing Small Business Participation in State Procurements. As the title indicates, this executive order, the first one of the new year, is intended to enhance the state's Small Business Reserve (SBR) Program at a time when supporting the small business community is critical to our economic recovery from the ongoing pandemic.

Developing policies and procedures to implement the executive order is a team effort that includes the Governor's Office of Small, Minority & Women Business Affairs, the Lieutenant Governor's Office, the Office of State Procurement (OSP) and the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT). Draft policies and procedures will be shared at the upcoming SPAG meeting on January 21st. Register HERE to attend. The goal is to be at full implementation by February 1st. 

We will continue to share information as it becomes available and look forward to a collaborative effort to implement the executive order as we enhance opportunities for the small business community.


VSBE Program Update

The 2020 Maryland General Assembly convened a Veteran-Owned Small Business Enterprise (VSBE) Work Group to look at the existing program and make recommendations for improvements. A report, prepared by the Department of General Services, has been submitted to the governor and legislators. 

While there are no details to share at this time, we don't want you to be caught off-guard. It is our expectation that proposed policy changes will have the intention of aligning the VSBE Program to policies currently governing the MBE Program. 

We will share information as it becomes available, so stay tuned.


MBE Program

Reporting 

  • The FY2021 2nd Quarter Report is due on January 30th. Quarterly Reports are due no later than 30 days following the quarter/month being reported, and should contain data from the start of the fiscal year, July 1, 2020. Quarterly reports are important in order to allow the agencies/departments and GOSBA to view progress towards the 29% attainment goal.

The MBE Reporting Toolkit contains the current report templates and instructions. 

MBE Reporting Toolkit

Reports should be submitted via email in EXCEL FORMAT to: 
 MBEreports.gosba@maryland.gov


MBE questions or issues should be directed to Nichelle Johnson, MBE Compliance Manager, at   nichelle.johnson1@maryland.gov  or 410-697-9605.

 

MBE Liaison Training

Our office is holding a virtual training session for MBE Liaisons and procurement professionals responsible for compliance, administration and reporting of the MBE Program. Topics to be discussed include:

  • MBE Liaison duties as defined in statute
  • Reporting Best Practices
  • MBE Program Reporting Toolkit & MBE Reporting Templates and Manual
  • Quarterly vs Annual Reporting
  • Backup Documentation
  • VSBE Program Reporting Toolkit & VSBE Annual Reporting

Thursday, February 25, 2021
9:00 am - 12:00 pm
Click the button below to register for MBE Liaison Training.

Register

 


SBR Program

Reporting

The FY2021 2nd Quarter Report is due on January 30th. Quarterly Reports are due no later than 30 days following the end of the quarter being reported, and should contain data from the start of the fiscal year, July 1, 2020. Quarterly reports allow the agencies/departments and GOSBA to view progress towards designating at least 15% of their spend for the SBR Program.

The SBR Toolkit contains report templates and instructions. 

SBR Reporting Toolkit

Reports should be submitted to the sbrreports.gosba@maryland.gov email box.

 

SBR questions should be directed to Lisa Mitchell Sennaar, SBR Compliance Manager at,
  lisa.sennaar@maryland.gov or 410-697-9613

 

SBR Liaison Training

Our office is holding a virtual training session for SBR Liaisons and procurement professionals responsible for compliance, administration and reporting of the SBR Program. Topics to be discussed include:

  • SBR Liaison duties as defined in statute
  • Implementation of Executive Order 01.01.2021.01 - Increasing Small Business Participation in State Procurements
  • Reporting Best Practices
  • SBR Program Reporting Toolkit & SBR Reporting Templates and Instructions
  • Quarterly vs Annual Reporting
  • Backup Documentation
  • VSBE Program Reporting Toolkit & VSBE Annual Reporting

Tuesday, February 16, 2021
9 am - 12 noon
Click the button below to register for SBR Liaison Training.

Image

Compliance & Policy Update


January Compliance
 Call

On January 7, 2021, GOSBA hosted our bi-monthly Compliance Call. Thank you to all of our participants. We covered some very important topics that will help us ensure we remain compliant with state procurement regulations and policies. For those who were unable to join us, please click HERE to see the questions and responses in our Compliance Call Library. You may also access this document in the MBE and SBR Toolkits.

Upcoming March 11, 2021 Compliance Call

The purpose of this conference call is to address issues impacting the SBR, MBE, and VSBE procurement programs in an open and transparent forum. 

We would like to address specific questions that you, our Agency stakeholders, are asking. Please submit questions 14 days in advance (by February 25, 2021) to:
compliance.gosba@maryland.gov

To participate, please register using the link provided below. You will receive a Conference Call invitation with call in details. A link to questions and the answers provided during the call will be added to our website for those who were unable to join the call.

Thursday, March 11, 2021
10:00 am - 12:00 pm
Click the button below to register for the Compliance Call.