Title of Nomination:	0 Executive Support 0 Customer Service   0 Contract Simplification   0 Electronic Commerce X Education/Outreach O Public/Private Partnerships O Prompt Payment O Other
Award Recipient :	Department of Transportation District 4 Small Business Task Force
Contact Person:	Linda J. Wells
Mailing Address:	P. 0. Box 23660, Oakland, CA 94623-0660
Phone:	(510) 286-5871
Fax:	(510) 286-5872
E-mail:	Linda_J_wells@dot.ca.gov
Person Nominating:	(person to notify if your nomination is a winner. Fill out only if different than the person above. )
Mailing Address:
Phone:
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The Department of Transportation's, District 4 Small Business Task Force (DSBTF) was established in June 2002. The group was originally sponsored by the Chief Deputy District Director Paul Hensley and continues to be sponsored by the current Chief Deputy District Director Andrew Fremier .

Recognizing that increasing the Department's small business participation is a high priority of the Governor, BT& H Agency Secretary and the Director, District 4 explored ways by which it could achieve the Small Business (SBE) and Disabled Veteran Business (DVBE) goals established by the Governor's Executive Orders.
The DSBTF was started as one of the means for the district to meet these goals. Nine senior level staff persons were assigned to serve as Division Representatives for each district Division. (Administration, Construction, Design, Environmental Planning, Maintenance, Operations, Program Project Management, Right of Way and Transportation Planning)

WRITTEN NOMINATION :

Since its inception, the District Small Business Task Force (DSBTF) meets on a monthly basis. Each month a SBE or DVBE is invited to make a 15-20 minute presentation about their services or products. They are allowed to provide marketing materials to the group and answer any questions. They are also given contact numbers for each Division representative. The Division representatives are responsible for sharing the information with the purchasing staff in each office.

Every quarter, each Division representative is responsible for tracking and submitting an accounting of all division spending broken down by office and the amount spent with SBs or DVBEs. This information is shared with the District Director and Deputy District Directors. The executive staff can determine which divisions and offices are achieving the goals and where improvement is needed. This also creates a friendly competition amongst divisions.

The DSBTF has also created a list of non-certified businesses from which the District regularly purchases and has begun to contact them to provide information on the benefits of becoming a certified SBE or DVBE. Each business is provided a certification application and the brochure entitled "How To Do Business With Caltrans." The purpose is to encourage the SBE and/or DVBE to apply for certification and increase their opportunity to do business with the State of California.

The DSBTF is currently working on a training program to begin training of all staff responsible for purchasing and contracting.

On behalf of The Department of Transportation, District 4 is proud to recommend the District's Small Business Task Force for their creative and outstanding achievement in the areas of small business outreach and education. The assistance of the DSBTF to purchasing staff has resulted in the increased awareness of the Department's commitment to SB and DVBE small business participation!

 

 

Updated : 8/9/2007