Procurement Compliance Bulletin
04.20.2023
Small businesses are an integral part of our community. Community creates a sense of purpose, offers a support network, and is an opportunity to experience diversity. The state of Maryland is full of individuals from different backgrounds with varying life experiences. Let's embrace how each and every one of us makes an impact on the overall socioeconomic climate. As peers, we can hold each other accountable, motivate, and encourage one another. As state employees, we can work to create a sense of purpose for the small business community.
How can this be done? Let's SPRING INTO ACTION! GO full throttle with greater engagement of small, minority, women, and veteran-owned businesses. DO your part in following the lead of our Governor to ensure equity, inclusion, improvement and increased visibility within our field. Take an honest look at how we, across all state units, can do better. Governor Moore stated his commitment to the MBE Program at his first Board of Public Works (BPW) Meeting in January. In addition, he issued the Executive Order 01.01.2023.03 Reporting of Procurement Activity and Minority Business Enterprise Compliance in February and brought remarks at the March Senior Procurement Advisory Group (SPAG) Meeting. SHOW that you are Springing Into Action by detailing your efforts and taking strides to increase the participation of the small businesses within our SBR/MBE/VSBE Programs.
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All agencies are required to submit the FY2024 Procurement Forecast pursuant to COMAR 21.11.03.17 and 21.11.01.06.
The FY2024 Procurement Forecast report should contain all projected procurement contracts (including sole source and task orders) reasonably expected to be $100,000 or more and should also include current/existing contracts. If you are projecting procurements that have previously been designated as SBR, be sure to add "SBR designated" to the Descriptions column in the template. Also, if current/existing contracts contained MBE and VSBE goals, please note them as requested. While statutes and regulations do not mandate the inclusion of VSBE goals in the forecast, we strongly encourage you to note the potential for VSBE goals whenever applicable.
Please take the time to read the FY2024 Procurement Forecast Instructions for complete details.
The FY2024 Procurement Forecast is due on or before June 30th.
Agencies only need to submit one report with all projected procurements. FY2024 Procurement Forecast instructions and template are located in the SBR, MBE, and VSBE Toolkits on our website.
If you have any questions, contact
Lisa Mitchell Sennaar at lisa.sennaar@maryland.gov
Here's some great news! The strategic plan template has been radically revised and will now be submitted electronically as a Google Form.
This mandatory report is in a consolidated format with distinct SBR and MBE sections. It uses logic to navigate you through the process. For those agencies that participate in both the MBE and SBR programs, a PDF version of the form will be provided in the SBR and MBE toolkits so you can coordinate your answers across multiple contributors. Each agency should only submit one strategic plan.
The FY2024 SBR/MBE Consolidated Strategic Plan is due on or before June 30th.
Strategic planning is an organizational management activity that is used to set priorities, focus energy and resources, strengthen operations, ensure that employees and other stakeholders are working toward common goals, establish agreement around intended outcomes/results, and assess and adjust the organization's direction in response to a changing environment.
The Consolidated Strategic Plan FY2024 is now available in the SBR Reporting Toolkit and the MBE Reporting Toolkit.
Many thanks to the units who submitted the data required by Executive Order 01.01.2023.03. Governor Moore asked for this data in an effort to identify areas where the MBE Program can be more efficient and effective in its goal to ensure that socially and economically disadvantaged small business owners are included in the state’s procurement and contracting opportunities. The data collected will help to inform future program development strategy.
May 4, 2023
Please be sure to attend the next virtual Liaison Training Session on May 4, 2023, 9:00 am - 1:00 pm
SBR/MBE/VSBE Training Topics will include:
2023 Legislative Updates
GOSBA Staff introductions
SBR/MBE/VSBE Reporting Expectations & Resources
FY2024 Procurement Forecast
FY2024 Consolidated Strategic Plan
Upcoming Requirements and Announcements
You should have already received a calendar invitation. If you have not, please email lisa.sennaar@maryland.gov and asked to be added to the invite.
If you do not wish to attend any upcoming meetings, simply decline the meeting invitation.
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MBE Program
A new requirement has been added to the MBE Annual Report data for all contracts that close out during the fiscal year. The Annual Agency MBE Compliance Assessment Report is intended to verify if the MBE goal set by the agency was met by the prime contractor upon completion of the contract. This new requirement will take effect with your FY2023 filing (due 9/30/2023).
This is a very data intensive report and requires manual data entry. You are highly encouraged to review the new reporting document to ensure a full understanding of data requirements. Feel free to contact your designated MBE Compliance Manager if you have any questions.
Please take a moment and download the new
Annual Agency MBE Compliance Assessment Report
FY2023 Annual Agency MBE Compliance Assessment Report
VSBE Program
An additional requirement has been added to the VSBE Annual Report data beginning with FY2023. The new VSBE Program Outreach Form will capture outreach activities to the veteran business community that were performed during July 2022 through June 2023. There is still time to collaborate and to reach the veteran small business community with outreach by the end of the fiscal year.
The report includes data that has not been captured previously and will likely require manual data collection. You may need to work with associates outside of the procurement unit to gather this data. Please review the new reporting document to ensure a full understanding of data requirements. Feel free to contact Danielle Davis, VSBE Compliance Manager if you have any questions.
Please take a moment and download the new
Veteran-Owned Small Business Enterprise ()VSBE) Program Outreach Form
FY2023 Quarterly Reporting
FY2023 3rd Quarter MBE Reports are due April 30, 2023
Quarterly reports are cumulative, so 3rd quarter reports will report data for July 1, 2022 – March 31, 2023 and is due no later than 30 days following the quarter being reported. Quarterly report instructions and templates are available in the MBE Reporting Toolkit.
The submission of the 3rd Quarter MBE Report is very important. Submitting this report will help your agency assess its performance just beyond the mid-year mark, which will prepare you for a strong 4th quarter. In addition, since quarterly reports are cumulative, when the time comes to complete your Annual Report, a portion of your work will already be completed.
If you have questions pertaining to the 3rd Quarter MBE Report, feel free to submit them via email and/or contact us to schedule a meeting.
Nichelle Johnson at nichelle.johnson1@maryland.gov or
Karen Reyes at karen.reyes@maryland.gov
SBR Program
FY2023 Quarterly Reporting
FY2023 3rd Quarter SBR Reports are due April 30, 2023
SBR quarterly report data is cumulative. The 3rd quarter report covers July 1, 2022 – March 31, 2023 and is due no later than 30 days following the quarter being reported. Quarterly Report instructions and templates are available in the SBR Reporting Toolkit.
The submission of the 3rd Quarter SBR Report is very important. Submitting this report will help your agency assess its performance just beyond the mid-year mark, which will prepare you for a strong 4th quarter. In addition, since quarterly reports are cumulative, when the time comes to complete your Annual Report, a portion of your work will already be completed. No 4th quarter report is due. Instead, the full fiscal year is reported in the Annual Report. Data for the Annual Report is submitted 90 days after the close of the fiscal year being reported.
If you have any questions pertaining to the Quarterly SBR Reports, feel free to submit them via email and/or contact us to schedule a meeting.
Lisa Mitchell Sennaar at lisa.sennaar@maryland.gov or
Tanita Johnson at tanita.johnson1@maryland.gov
Certified VSBE's
Please all participating VSBE agencies/departments, check all current and future VSBE's on all contracts up against eMMA. Remember, when it comes to verifying a vendor's certification status in Maryland's VSBE Program, you must use eMMA exclusively.
As of January 1, 2023, the veteran verification process at the federal level (VetBiz), has moved to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). The program is now called VetCert.
Effective immediately, this is your new home to search for federally certified veteran-owned small businesses when conducting market research to set VSBE goals. Make sure to bookmark this new website: https://veterans.certify.sba.gov/. Make sure to invite federal certified veteran firms to obtain their state VSBE certification.
If you have any questions or concerns when verifying VSBE Program certification,
please call or email Danielle Davis at danielle.davis2@maryland.gov.
Quarterly Compliance Call
GOSBA hosts a compliance call each quarter to address issues impacting how the SBR, MBE, and VSBE procurement programs are implemented by participating state agencies and departments. Topics for discussion come from you, our liaisons and procurement officers. We discuss them in an open and transparent forum so we can all learn from one another.
Our April 13th Compliance Call agenda items included:
- Executive Order Reminder
- FY2024 Procurement Forecast
- Announcement of Changes to FY2024 Strategic Plan
- May Liaison Training Reminder
- eMMA MBE Data Transfers
- VSBE outreach form
If you missed our April 13th call, please find a summary of the topics covered HERE, in the latest Compliance Library. You may also find it in the SBR, MBE or VSBE Reporting Toolkits.
For questions about the compliance call, please email lisa.sennaar@maryland.gov or nichelle.johnson1@maryland.gov.
The House Appropriations Committee has mandated an additional round of surveys in 2023 to address ongoing concerns about attainment of MBE goals, liaison vacancies, and the liaison's role within each agency.
The Agency MBE Participation Attainment and Agency Liaison surveys are being conducted by the Governor's Office of Small, Minority & Women Business Affairs in collaboration with the Department of General Services Office of State Procurement. A report is due to the Committee in December.
The MBE Survey will launch by July 1st and the Liaison Survey is expected to launch in November.
More details to come.
SAVE THESE DATES:
SBR/MBE/VSBE Liaison Trainings:
May 4, 2023 (virtual)
Quarterly Compliance Calls:
June 1, 2023
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