A collaborative effort to simplify contracting processes across a spate of public entities so that San Antonio businesses can more easily compete for lucrative contracts is beginning to bear fruit.
Local officials hope to celebrate that progress next month with the first board meeting of a newly expanded nonprofit, Supply SA, which agreed in June to take over the agency responsible for certifying small, women-, disabled-, veteran- and minority-owned businesses.
Now it’s in the process of hiring an executive director, a “CEO of all the CEOs” that make up Supply SA, said Leo Gomez, president and CEO of Brooks Development Authority.
He’s one of more than a dozen CEOs of public entities who started meeting in 2022 with the goal of standardizing their procurement processes and creating a single place where businesses could get help navigating them.
It’s a novel effort, Gomez noted, “bringing together so many public agencies to address this in a comprehensive way.” The ultimate goal is to create a “procurement economy” model that could be replicated by other communities to get more contracting dollars into the hands of small and minority-owned businesses.
Billions at stake
The money at stake is not chump change. Federal, state and local contracting opportunities in the San Antonio area are estimated to be worth as much as $9 billion annually.
Locally, those contracts come from the city and county, as well as public entities like Brooks, CPS Energy, San Antonio Water System, Port San Antonio, public universities and health systems. Bringing their CEOs to the table was meant to show the level of commitment the entities have to simplifying procurement and spreading the wealth.
Supply SA’s efforts hit a major snag, however, when it became apparent late last year that the South Central Texas Regional Certification Agency (SCTRCA), which certifies the status of businesses seeking contracts — a necessary first step in becoming eligible — had been neglected to the point that it was barely functional.
Just two undertrained staff members were reviewing hundreds of applications a month for 11 different certifications. Small businesses complained of months-long delays, inaccurate decisions and radio silence when they sought answers.
Initially, Supply SA wanted to remain separate from the SCTRCA, which formed in 1998 through agreements with the city, county and the public entities that contract with certified businesses — the same entities whose CEOs now make up Supply SA.
But this spring, the CEOs voted to absorb the agency into Supply SA. More critically, they agreed to boost their organizations’ financial contributions to it, which would allow the SCTRCA to hire and train the additional staff necessary to certify businesses in a timely way.
The board of the SCTRCA, which is made up largely of procurement specialists from each of the member organizations, learned in June that the agency would be folded into Supply SA and get both a one-time infusion of cash and increased annual dues from each organization.
Becoming one
Since then, each organization has been asked to sign an updated interlocal agreement that codifies the increased dues each will pay, and outlines the additional work Supply SA will do, such as technical assistance, like helping businesses get bonded, as well as some basic hand-holding to navigate the process.
Once those agreements are signed, SCTRCA will drop its name and DBA. Its “doing business as” will be Supply SA, keeping its nonprofit status intact.
Michael Sindon, an administrator in the city’s Economic Development Department who serves as chair of the SCTRCA board, credits Sheena Thomas and her consulting firm, Lengo Strategic Partners, with making great strides to right the agency.
Thomas was hired last year in a one-year contract after the agency’s last executive director was fired with no succession plan in place.
“She’s been, honestly, great,” he said. “In terms of timelines and processes and training of staff, she’s really given a level of professionalism to the agency.” Thomas is in the process of hiring two more certification specialists, and a certification manager to oversee the agency’s work.
Once Supply SA has hired an executive director, that person will oversee those employees plus a handful of others who will do intake, navigation and capacity-building with small businesses.
Olivia Travieso of consulting firm OCI Group, which is contracted to do administrative support work for Supply SA, said the newly-expanded nonprofit’s board will be made up of “the CEOs themselves,” or designees from their organizations.
The procurement specialists who comprise the existing board, she said, will still have a role within Supply SA, through a procurement innovation committee.
We need their ongoing expertise and first-hand knowledge,” she said, “to assist with innovative ways the agencies can better engage local, small businesses and facilitate the procurement process.”
