March 16th, 2007 8:50 pm
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…without the Supervisor even mentioning green business!
At a recent SF Small Business Commission meeting, Supervisor Ed Jew spoke of his proposed legislation that would greatly expand the opportunities for small businesses to do business with the City. Green business advocates should support the Supervisor’s efforts. Most green businesses are small businesses as well. Adoption of Supervisor Jew’s plan would result in a significant boost of opportunity for San Francisco green businesses.
Supervisor Jew cites San Francisco’s small businesses comprise 99% of all San Francisco businesses. Over 100,000 small businesses employ 55% of our private sector workforce, yet the City of San Francisco does less than 15% of its purchasing with our small businesses.
The Supervisor is requesting a hearing to clarify City purchasing requirements to determine why there are no discernable LBE (Local Business Entity) goals: identify deficiencies, if any, in LBE purchasing requirements: and determine ways for our city to steer more of its purchasing to locally owned businesses that employ San Franciscans.
Mike Farrah, the Interim Small Business Commission Executive Director, really hit the small/green business similarity nail on the head when he commented during the meeting that the City should look at the State of California’s Department of General Services website (www.dgs.ca.gov) for guidance…."it looks like a small business website, it looks like an environmental website…it’s more than just a procurement site." Concluding "…there are certainly things we can change for the better…"
Right on Mike!
….and thank you Supervisor Jew. Best of luck with your efforts.
Clifford Waldeck
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