The State of Minority- and Women- Owned ... - Cleveland.com

The City of Cleveland’s Cleveland Small Business, Minority Business Enterprise, and
Female Business Enterprise Program: Overview and Feedback Interviews
• Recommend disqualification of a bidder, contractor, or other Business Enterprise
from eligibility for providing goods or services to the City for a period not to exceed
two years; or
• Recommend a claim for payment of damages, including any liquidated damages
specified in the contract.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, if the Director determines after an
investigative hearing that the City has contracted with a Front Organization 333 and/or that a
contractor has participated with a CSB, FBE, or MBE Contractor in activities that would create a
Front Organization, then the Director shall:
• Decertify the contractor and and/or Front Organization;
• Not permit the contractor and/or Front Organization to be certified for a period of not
less than one year after a final determination; and
• Refer the matter to the City Prosecutor's office for appropriate action.
The decision of the Director is final and may be appealed to the Board of Zoning Appeals, whose
decision, in turn, may be reviewed by the Common Pleas Court.
7. Small Contract Rotation Program 334
The Director is authorized to establish a Small Contract Rotation Program for MBEs and FBEs,
including procedures, applicable to the categories of construction, professional services and
purchase contracts where the cost of the Contract is anticipated to be under $10,000.
Under the Small Contract Rotation Program, the City shall limit every second contract to be let
by the City for each type of contract, within a category where MBEs and FBEs are underutilized
at a statistically significant level, to competition among certified MBEs and FBEs who submit an
application in a form acceptable to the Director. The Director shall compile an approved list
comprised of not less than two certified MBEs and FBEs for each industry and, as needed,
compile specialized lists within industries. The eligible businesses shall be alphabetically ranked
on each list and, for a thirty-day period commencing on January 1st and June 1st of each year,
the Director shall hold open enrollment for applicants. The lists of prequalified vendors shall be
made available to the public. The Commissioner of Purchases and Supplies shall solicit bids or
proposals from all MBEs or FBEs on the list for each contract to be entered into under the Small
Contract Rotation Program. When only one qualified vendor is on the list, the Commissioner of
333 “Front Organization” means any FBE, MBE, or CSB that serves as a Contractor, or as a subcontractor to any
Contractor under Contract, who obtained and/or retained certification through false statements or who committed
to performance of a distinct element of the work under the Contract but did not carry out its responsibilities by
actually performing, managing or supervising the work involved, or who did not provide products, services,
goods or supplies in a manner, in the Director's determination, consistent with its certification. C.O. § 187.01(w).
334 C.O. § 187.14.
NERA Economic Consulting 301