“We want small business vendors,” Bill Silvia, Director, General Services, Los Rios Community College District, tells attendees at the March 29 seminar. |
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Contracting with California Community Colleges - Featuring Los Rios Community College District (LRCCD), the first of a series of three prototype courses for small businesses interested in becoming vendors for the district, and the statewide community colleges, was held on March 29, 2005 in Sacramento . Thirty two small businesses participated in the class held at the Sacramento Employee Training Agency (SETA) facility at 925 Del Paso Blvd. where they learned about the purchasing process and networked with LRCCD purchasing staff. The additional courses featuring Los Rios Community College District are scheduled at SETA on April 25, 2005 and May 24, 2005.
The California Community College System is the largest system of higher education in the world. The system has over 2.5 million students, 109 colleges and 72 districts. The system spends over $750 million annually on goods, services and construction. Purchasing is handled independently by each district and
in some cases, each college. Therefore, it is important that California small businesses become knowledgeable of the community college purchasing process and responsive
to bid requests so they can win competitive bids. "If we can spend our tax dollars with California small businesses, our state gets added economic benefit," according to
Walter Di Mantova, Director, Contract Education and Economic Development, LRCCD.
The Contracting with California Community Colleges 18-month project is made possible
by an Industry Driven Regional Collaborative grant from the California Community College Chancellor’s Office. Through this project, Los Rios Community College District and the Greater Sacramento Small Business Development Center, in partnership with The Federal Technology Center, are working to increase the capability of small businesses
to provide goods and services to California ’s community colleges. The goals of this
program include increasing competition,
saving procurement dollars and enhancing California’s economy by using cost effective and responsive California small businesses. The program includes small business training and counseling on the community college procurement processes and contracting opportunities throughout California.
In August 2005 - May 2006 the Contracting with Community College courses will be offered at various SBDCs statewide. Additionally, procurement counselors from The FTC provide free one-on-one procurement technical assistance to small business people interested in selling to the Community College System and other government organizations. To schedule a counseling session with one of The FTC procurement counselors, please call (866) 382-7822 toll-free or (916) 334-9388. To learn more about contracting with community colleges, see the official program website at: www.communitycollegecontracting.net
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