COVINGTON — Newton County commissioners are expected to consider a procurement policy that would encourage participation in county contracts by minority businesses at the board’s Oct. 6 meeting.
The policy was first proposed at the Board of Commissioners Sept. 15 meeting but was tabled after District 5 Commissioner Ronnie Cowan said he had received the document the day before and had not had an opportunity to thoroughly review it.
County Manager Lloyd Kerr explained that the policy is directed at recruiting or targeting minority businesses for contracts to do business with the county.
“Essentially what we are doing is we are making sure that minority businesses and business owners understand that the county is enthusiastically welcoming participation of minority businesses in all that we do, whether it is contracting for a large construction project or acting as a supplier for office supplies,” said Kerr.
The county may reach out to minority-owned businesses through onsite training classes, materials in county vendor packets, videos on the county’s procurement website and webinars.
Kerr said the county’s “preliminary overall goal” will be to award 30% of contracts to minority business enterprises in calendar year 2021. He said the 30% is a goal and not a quota, and the county will seek to achieve that goal through “entirely race neutral criteria.”
He said the county will compile a list of minority-owned businesses in the local market that offer goods and services commonly procured by the county and use that list to work toward the 30% goal.
District 3 Commissioner Nancy Schulz asked that women be included in the definition of minority in the policy.
District 1 Commissioner Stan Edwards noted that the county will not exclude non-minority contractors in order to achieve the 30% goal, but it will expand promotion, encouragement and awareness to minority owners.
Chairman Marcello Banes was unhappy with Cowan’s motion to table the policy for further review. Banes said the county has awarded few contracts to minority businesses. Included in those, he said, were some that no other contractors would take.
“I’ve been here four years, and there has been millions of dollars given out from this horseshoe through road projects, buildings, and now fire stations, the judicial center,” said Banes. “You don’t see any African American contractors over there.
“It’s difficult to understand why we wouldn’t want to pass something like this,” Banes added. “It’s just really difficult to understand.”
Cowan said he had no opposition to the policy.
“I would just like to table it for an opportunity to read a little more and think it through,” said Cowan.
Cowan’s motion was seconded by Schulz and approved unanimously.
