SAVE SAN FRANCISCO SMALL BUSINESSES (LBEs)
Services
Community Outreach
Community Engagement
Website Development
BCOMM galvanized the San Francisco community of Public Works, Construction, and Trucking LBE small businesses
to advocate for critical updates to San Francisco's Chapter 14B LBE Ordinance.
Beginning in 2019, we were brought on by BCOMM client Padraic Ryan, COO of EcoBay Services, to host a series of community meetings for LBE / small business owners to share their experiences contracting in the City and County of San Francisco.
Understanding the Problem
The San Francisco LBE program was specifically created to level the playing field for small businesses to compete against prime contractors on public contracts, by creating a more equitable business environment.
The Power of Listening to Learn What You Don’t Know
A consistent voice throughout our meetings was that of the San Francisco LBE Truckers. We discovered that Trucking had in fact formerly never received an increase to its economic threshold, and immediately we were committed to righting this wrong.
BCOMM wrote a comprehensive white paper & created a website that detailed our community-led proposed changes. We then embarked on the arduous process of showing up to every LBE Advisory Committee meeting, to provide updates on the progress of the changes, consistently coordinating feedback between the LBEAC, our coalition and CMD.
New Legislation Brings New Opportunities
From the beginning, our coalition was intentional about creating capacity-building opportunities like increasing the micro-set aside contracting value from $709,000 to $1,000,000, creating a Pilot Neighborhood Program to give MicroLBEs bid discounts on projects in the neighborhoods their businesses are headquartered, increasing economic thresholds in accordance with CPI, and many more.
Category
Micro-LBE
Small-LBE
SBA-LBE
Public Works/Construction
Specialty Construction
Trucking & Hauling
Good/Materials/Equipment Suppliers
General Service Providers
Architect/Engineering
Professional Services
$12,000,000
$6,000,000
$2,500,000
$6,000,000
$6,000,000
$2,500,000
$2,500,000
$24,000,000
$12,000,000
$5,000,000
$12,000,000
$12,000,000
$5,000,000
$5,000,000
$40,000,000
$20,000,000
$10,000,000
$20,000,000
$20,000,000
$8,500,000
$8,500,000
Final figures determined by the City's Economist using Urban Area CPI data
Nov. 2, 2021
We gained unanimous support from the Board of Supervisors.
July 2, 2021
Our proposed changes were approved by the LBE advisory committee.
Nov. 17, 2021
The Mayor of San Francisco, London Breed, signed our changes into law with an official signing ceremony.
Engaging With City Leaders
During this time, small businesses continued to face many challenges due to COVID-19. In-person community meetings became video conferences, but together, we maintained momentum and embarked on a series of meetings with the City Administrator’s office and each member of the Board of Supervisors.
Still More Work to be Done…
There is absolutely more work to be done, but, in considering the timing of this legislation as small businesses continue to fight their way out of the economic pitfalls of Covid-19, and the passing of Biden's $1.2 Trillion infrastructure bill, our hope is that over time this legislation will contribute to San Francisco small businesses maturing into medium-sized businesses, and eventually large-sized businesses. LBEs, and particularly MicroLBEs in San Francisco deserve to be considered first, when it comes to contracting in San Francisco and access to more opportunities, and this legislation lays the foundation for that to happen.
