Part 2 of 3 – Can Past Practices Power the Economy?

02/17/2017 | Joseph Lewis, Principal, BTG

Public Private Partnerships (P3s): An Opportunity to Advance Communities and Foster Lasting Economic Empowerment (Part 2 of 3)

Opportunities to move the country forward by empowering local communities and small business owners with a platform that generates long-term benefits are abound, particularly in our major cities, where these needs are most visible.

Agencies in metropolitan areas, facing the onset of large D/B and P/3 projects and inclusion management, are sometimes applying traditional tactics and requirements that don’t translate well to the new D/B and P3 environment. This creates some major concerns, for example:

* Often, inclusion strategies for small and disadvantaged businesses are not discussed until the procurement document is published to mandate compliance.

* Agencies usually leave the success of meeting these requirements up to the contractor with no agreed upon strategy.

* Executives and political officials many times lack information about project status that could result in sanctions.

These concerns and others occur because an essential component of the project was not dealt with in a more strategic and programmatic way.

BTG believes that inclusion strategies in past practices of Design/Bid/Builds can be modified to meet the new demands of a D/B and P3 environment. Agency representatives need effective and timely solutions to address this new environment. Lean Civil Rights operations have been staffed in the past to focus primarily on compliance tracking and reporting. While compliance tracking and reporting are very important and must continue, a more programmatic and strategic orientation is also needed. The scale and complexity of D/B and P3 projects require a comprehensive approach that minimizes risk and optimizes the inclusion of small businesses.

We believe that collaboration is the best approach with a strong partnership strategy.

Visit us next month for Part 3 of 3:

Part 3: A New Approach – Partnership Strategies and Collaboration