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Washington Health Benefit Exchange wants to hear from you!
We understand that recruiting and retaining valuable employees in this market can be difficult. Offering quality health insurance can help. The Washington Health Benefit Exchange has created a short 5-minute survey to better understand the health insurance needs of small businesses. Our goal is to ensure small business owners and their employees have access to the health coverage they need. Thank you in advance for your help and feedback.
For questions contact Marie Cooper at smallbusiness@wahbexchange.org
Washington Healthplanfinder
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Direct Buy purchasing levels to remain in place through March 2025
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The Department of Enterprise Services (DES) is extending current purchasing levels in the Direct Buy Policy #DES-125-03 until March 2025.
Intent of the 2020 policy update
DES increased direct buy limits in 2020 based on extensive stakeholder listening as well as market research.
The limits were increased to:
- Level 1: $30,000
- Level 2: $40,000 if the purchase is made from a small business as defined by RCW 39.26.010(22); or from a certified veteran-owned business.
The updated limits are intended to:
- Align with the statutory intent of encouraging and facilitating state agency purchases of goods and services from Washington veteran-owned businesses (RCW 43.60A.200) and small businesses (RCW 39.26.005), which in turn greatly improves opportunities for spending with certified minority- and women-owned businesses. Raising direct buy limits was a key recommendation of the 2019 Washington State Disparity Study.
- Setting exception limits that give agencies increased authority to make direct buy purchases to meet business needs, thus improving efficiency while preserving competitive solicitations for higher-risk procurements.
Data improvements
DES is committed to making data-driven decisions. When DES updated the direct buy policy in 2020, the plan included re-examining the policy in 2022 based on spending data. However, enterprise-wide data is not yet available that shows whether the new policy works as intended to encourage low-risk purchases from small and veteran-owned businesses.
After the 2020 direct buy policy refresh, DES launched a series of internal data improvement initiatives to capture DES’ own direct buy spending. Data improvements as of July 1, 2021, include:
- An updated process using Agency Financial Reporting System (AFRS) to capture the underlying procurement method to payments being made.
- A system to use purchase card data, spending through Amazon, and the contract reporting information for benchmarking.
This data is not yet available from other state agencies. Extending the policy to 2025 will allow DES to continue exploring options for collecting the enterprise-wide data needed to analyze whether the policy is working as intended.
If you have any questions about this policy, check our frequently asked questions (FAQ).
DES Contracts & Procurement | Enterprise Procurement Policy
360-407-2210| DESmiEnterpriseProcurementPolicy@des.wa.gov
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More than 1.7 billion people around the world are unbanked and can’t access the financial services they need. Kiva is an international nonprofit, founded in 2005 in San Francisco, with a mission to expand financial access to help underserved communities thrive.
Kiva does this by crowdfunding loans and unlocking capital for the underserved, improving the quality and cost of financial services, and addressing the underlying barriers to financial access around the world. Through Kiva's work, students can pay for tuition, women can start businesses, farmers are able to invest in equipment, and families can afford needed emergency care.
By lending as little as $25 on Kiva, you can be part of the solution and make a real difference in someone’s life. 100% of every dollar you lend on Kiva goes to funding loans.
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OMWBE Welcomes Gesa Credit Union to the Linked Deposit program! Gesa is the second credit union to join the program. They have locations serving both Eastern and Western Washington. We are excited to expand our list of participating lenders.
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Did you know Washington Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) clients have free access to live and on demand Govology classes? Govology is an online community with resources and knowledge for small businesses pursuing government contracting opportunities. If you are interested in these courses, please contact a PTAC counselor to access these.
Please note, in order to be eligible to access these courses, your business needs to be an active PTAC client who has had counseling or attended a PTAC event within the last 365 days.
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The Association of NIST Asian Pacific Americans (ANAPA) and Equal Employment Opportunity And Accessibility Office (EEOAO) are presenting virtual events to learn about and celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. Download the hyperlinked flyer to register.
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The University of Washington Stroum Center for Jewish Studies provides their lecture series free to the public with both virtual and in person options.
In the 2022 Samuel and Althea Stroum Lectures in Jewish Studies, Lila Corwin Berman, professor of history at Temple University, will look at “the Jewish Question” — the question of how modern nations incorporate Jews — in the United States, exploring the shifting status of American Jews’ citizenship and civic status across U.S. history.
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New Certifications
41 businesses obtained OMWBE certification in March! We share these monthly lists of newly certified firms with our contract and procurement contacts at State Agencies and Institutions of Higher Education.
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