This program is derived from the State System of Higher Education Board of Governors Draft Regulation Minority Business and Women Business Enterprise Participation in Facilities Projects, Title 22: 507.20, and is applicable to all contracts to be administered by the State System of Higher Education for maintenance, repair, alteration, or improvements to existing and/or construction of new facilities.

Certified Minority Business and Women Business Enterprises shall be solicited proactively and encouraged to submit competitive written bids or quotes for System facilities projects by the System and the prime contractors submitting bids for System facilities projects for portions of the work, and, depending on written bids received, contracts or subcontracts awarded for the work, if determined to be the firm submitting the lowest responsive responsible bid or quote. System procurement officers shall proactively solicit bids directly from certified MBE/WBE firms as prime contractors.

The following information is provided to assist the person(s) at your firm who will handle solicitations of MBE/WBE firms to reach the Reasonable Effort Award Amount (REAA) cited on the Notice to Contractors and contained in the Bid Proposal Form. Solicitations should begin as soon as possible in the bid process to allow firms sufficient time to respond.

The Solicitation:

1. It is suggested that you begin your written faxed solicitations for MBE/WBE firms and non-MBE/WBE firms immediately upon receipt of the bid package or, at the latest, faxed 5-10 days prior to the bid opening. Firms that have received certification from the Department of General Services can be identified by conducting a search by code or subject on the DGS web page at: http://www.dgsweb.state.pa.us/imaginepa/bcabd/vendor_search.asp

2. Mailings to large numbers of certified MBEs and WBEs which are intended to provide notice of a contractor's interest in bidding a construction project will not be deemed solicitation, but rather will be treated as informational notification only. The bidder must contact the certified MBE/WBE firms directly and request written quotes for the work or materials the firm plans to subcontract or purchase to satisfy the reasonable effort award amount.

3. Written solicitations must include sufficient bid specifications to allow the vendor to return a price quote to you. NOTICE: Sending a generic statement that you need “construction materials” or “electrical or plumbing parts” for this project is NOT considered as a written solicitation for pricing against the REAA. Such generic statements are considered “general announcements”. Contractors should provide a list of products or services for which they wish to receive quotes. The same list should be mailed to minority firms and non-minority firms from whom you are soliciting quotes.

4. After you have reviewed written quotes from all bidders (both minority and non-minority bidders), select the low responsive bidders and write your commitment letters to each awardee verifying that you have met or attempted to meet the REAA dollar amount cited in the Notice to Contractors for the goods or services you selected as part of the REAA solicitations. Failure to make written commitments for the REAA dollar amounts and include those letters with your bid may result in rejection of your bid as non-responsive.

5. If you do not receive a response to your solicitation from any MBE/WBE firms, you should attempt to contact them and determine their intentions on submitting a quote. This contact should be recorded and included as part of your submission.

Completion of the Solicitation Form:

1. Fill in all spaces from left to right and do not leave blank spaces when providing information on each MBE/WBE solicitation. Include: contractor name, address, MBE/WBE number, materials/services for which you are requesting quotes, estimated cost of materials/services, did you receive a quote or not, exact amount of quote. The total of estimated amounts for the various services or materials for which you are soliciting bids must equal the REAA amount listed in the Notice to Contractors and in the bid documents. You must also include a YES or NO as to making a commitment to the MBE/WBE. However, you MUST make a commitment(s) to one or more of your bidders (either non-minority or minority) for the item(s) requested on the Solicitation Sheet and for at least the REAA amount. Oral bids are not acceptable and bidders should be asked to supply written verification, either via fax or mail, to confirm any quote given verbally.

Material to be Submitted with Bid Proposal Form

1. It is essential that all back-up data be included with your Solicitation Form, including all the faxed requests with material/service lists that you submitted to vendors, all the written quotes received from vendors and most importantly, the commitment letters to selected vendors.

2. All commitments MUST BE in writing and you must attach a copy of your written commitment letter(s) with your bid to those firms who have submitted the lowest responsive written bid(s). You must award at least the REAA amount when qualified bids have been received from minority vendors. The commitment letters can be to the low responsive non-minority bidder or to the low responsive minority bidder. Commitment letters can be worded to be conditional upon receipt of an award of contract from the university. Remember, commitment letters should total at least the REAA amount cited in the Notice to Contractors.

3. Bidders who cannot clearly demonstrate that written commitments have been made that equal or exceed the reasonable effort award amount at the time of receipt of bids must submit, at anytime prior to the time of and at the place designated for the Bid Opening, an explanation of why such commitments could not be made. The explanation should indicate the proactive efforts taken to solicit participation and demonstrate that the bidder did not engage in discriminatory practices in solicitation and commitment of subcontracts and/or supply contracts.

4. If you do not receive bids from any minority firms to your solicitation, you still need to record the information listed above on the solicitation form and confirm that no quotes were received. A summary of your solicitation efforts may also be submitted providing an account of your follow-up efforts to determine if the vendor was going to submit a bid.

PLEASE NOTE: If you currently have an established working relationship with a MBE/WBE firm, all that is necessary is that you negotiate a price for supplies or subcontract work which you clearly identify and which meets or exceeds the REAA dollar amount cited in the Project Manual. Then all you need to submit with your bid is:

a. Your written request for pricing of the identified items

b. The mbe/wbe supplier or subcontractor’s written quote to you for those items.

c. A Commitment Letter to hem stating “If Clarion University awards us a contract on this project, we will award you a contract for $______, as cited in your written quote”.

d. Fill out the MBE/WBE sheet with the full info on your selected MBE/WBE firm(s).

e. Include all four of the above items with your bid and you have met the MBE/WBE requirements.

Clarion University is available to help you through this process. Please call Ruth Wolfgong at 814/393-2365 early in the process to avoid running out of time for acceptable written solicitations to be returned to you prior to the date of the bid opening. Additionally, you may call a second time prior to sealing your bid to assure that the form is filled out completely and correctly, to verify what documents should be submitted as back-up for you solicitation effort and that your commitment letters are adequate.

Failure to demonstrate a proactive effort in soliciting bids from MBE/WBE firms as cited in the Project Manual will result in rejection of your bid. It is better to spend the time prior to bid opening assuring that your bid is responsive rather than the after the bid opening asking why your bid was rejected.

Reference List