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Supplier Diversity Newsletter |
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Greetings Partners,
Every month we share a list of the most recently certified businesses including the business name, contact information, business description, etc. This list is best utilized regularly in combination with OMWBE's Directory of Certified Businesses.
Please contact our Supplier Diversity team for assistance using our online directory, or to schedule a virtual training for your procurement team.
Email: supplierdiversity@omwbe.wa.gov
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Every year state agencies and institutions of higher education are required to submit their public spending data to OMWBE, so we can report on each organization’s annual dollars spent on public works and procurement with certified minority- and women-owned businesses (See RCW 39.19.250).
Reporting requirements will be sent out in August 2024
Agency goal attainment will be assessed after all FY 2024 spend data has been collected. We will also share the FY 2025 Business Diversity Spending Goal Plan and Supplemental Questions Survey in the coming months. This is an excellent time to review your agency's approach to supplier diversity and to start conversations about increasing your spend with certified businesses.
This is the last year we will use Excel templates for subcontractor reporting. All subcontractor reporting for FY 2025 will take place in Access Equity. If your organization used Access Equity throughout FY 2024, we will accept that data.
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We recently updated the Access Equity User Guide. You can view this guide and other helpful resources in the Access Equity Help Center.
What changed in the guide?
- How to search for OMWBE state certified businesses, and veteran-owned businesses (VOBs)
- Instructions for adding your organization’s name to Outreach Events
- Additional instructions on adding payments for monthly audits
- Enter $0 if no payment was made to the Prime vendor for the month
- Ensure a vendor is registered in Access Equity before adding the contract to ECMS
- How to use Alerts to send notifications to your vendors
- Deactivating the Goal alert if there are no certified vendors working on the contract
- Assign users as Contract Agents if you want them to view all contracts, or assign users as Secondary Contract Agents to limit visibility to contracts they are assigned to
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How long does it take to search for a certified vendor? If you are not searching OMWBE’s database routinely yet, give it 10 minutes on your next few purchases.
- Go to OMWBE’s Certified Business Directory and select the state certifications: CBE, MBE, MWBE, SEDBE, and WBE (note, if you use Access Equity, you can also search for Veteran Owned Businesses, VOB).
- Start by using the keyword search in the “Search by Business Description” field. Complete the Captcha and click on Search to see what you get (please note—there is no Captcha inside Access Equity).
- Click on the link under the Certification column to see if you are on the right track (this feature is not in Access Equity yet). You can read the business description and note the commodity codes to dial in your search. If you didn’t get any results, try using a shorter keyword or variation of the word. For example, you might get different results for “architect” than “architecture.”
- You can choose “Edit Parameters” to search again without having to start over completely.
As with most skills, searching is faster and more effective the more often you do it. Experts might even start remembering NAICS codes! But for starters, give it 10 minutes to try out on your next few purchases.
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 Save the Date!
Regional Contracting Forum 2024
Is your agency registered for the 2024 Washington Regional Contracting Forum? This free in-person event is taking place on September 14 in Seattle, hosted by the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) and the City of Seattle.
Attend to connect with small, diverse, and veteran-owned businesses. Agencies can register for booths on Eventbrite. There is also an option to register for general admission tickets. Booth tickets are limited so act fast!
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 The Office of Equity Announces PEAR S.T.A.R. Award Nominations
The Washington State Office of Equity is launching its first ever annual PEAR S.T.A.R. Awards. These awards will be given out to community organizations and state agencies that exemplify PEAR (Pro Equity Anti-Racist) qualities.
The acronym S.T.A.R. stands for Show, Transform, Act, and Reflect, which should help you brainstorm when you think about someone who should be uplifted for these awards. A total of 30 awards will be given out, two for each of the 15 Determinants of Equity, with one of each determinants awards going to a community champion and another going to an agency champion.
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If you would like to include others on our distribution list to receive these monthly supplier diversity emails, please let us know at supplierdiversity@omwbe.wa.gov. |
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