The Multnomah County Sellwood Bridge Replacement RFP for CM/GC services provides an example of solicitation language for public agencies to consider on their CM/GC procurements.

 The contractor selected for the Sellwood Bridge Replacement CM/GC developed and submitted a Diversity Plan to the County for approval, prior to initiating construction.

Sellwood Bridge Diversity Plan (360.63 KB)

Outcomes

The County Purchasing Department negotiated with the successful proposer to establish a Diversity Plan resulting in the following commitments:

  • Aspirational target of 20% DMWESB participation – multi-tiered contracting approach
    • Unbundle large bid packages to create the largest number of small business opportunities
    • Extensively research the local DMWESB marketplace to determine areas with the highest DMWESB availability to ensure maximum participation is achieved in those areas
    • Contracts estimated to be $300,000 and below – bid only to DMWESBs
    • Contracts estimated to be $500,000 and above – utilize a best value-Request for Proposal method and will assign 15% of the total evaluation points to DMWESB utilization
  • Adopted the County’s Workforce Training and Hiring Program requirements-created hybrid program with ODOT requirements
    • 20% apprentice workforce target
    • Overall diverse workforce target of 14% women and 20% minority workers
  • Technical assistance services
    • Pre-award
    • Post-award
    • Business Assessments offered to DMWESBs by a third party provider, at no charge to the businesses
  • Mentoring
    • Technically and operationally mentoring 2 DMWESBs to become CM/GCs
    • Mentoring 6-8 DMWESBs one-on-one
  • Youth development
    • Paid internships for 8 college students 
    • 24 scholarships totaling $48,000 provided to college students through existing community scholarship programs including but not limited to: African American Chamber of Commerce, Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Native American Chamber of Commerce, and others. 

On the professional services side, Multnomah County took a similar approach by requiring a Diversity Plan in the RFP for architectural and engineering services on the Sellwood Bridge project. This ensured MWESB businesses would be afforded opportunities in the design phase of the project.

Sellwood Bridge RFP for A&E (303.92 KB)

Outcomes

The County Purchasing Department negotiated with the successful proposer to establish a Diversity Plan resulting in the following accomplishments:

  • 16 DMWESBs were awarded over $2.1 million, accounting for 15% of the overall contract value
  • One-on-one mentoring program was offered to all DMWESB sub-consultants
    • 8 months in duration
    • 2-3 goals established per mentoring team
    • DMWESBs spend a minimum of 2.5 hour with mentors each month
    • Subject matter experts provide business development services in excess of mentor time
  • 2 DMWESB sub-consultants technically mentored for the duration of the project
  • 3 workshops held at OAME at no cost to any DMWESB wishing to attend

Similar to the Sellwood Bridge project, the Multnomah County East County Courts RFP for CM/GC services included language requiring proposers to provide information on their approach to maximize M/W/ESB utilization and to detail their past performance related to M/W/ESB inclusion.

East County Courts CM/GC RFP (195.76 KB)

After the CM/GC contractor, Howard S. Wright,  was selected the contractor refined and submitted their Subcontracting Plan to the County for approval.  Howard S. Wright's Subcontracting Plan guides their diversity efforts on the project.

East County Courts Subcontracting Plan (870.17 KB)


Procurement Language From Other Public Agencies:

The following documents were made available to Multnomah County by other local public agencies. The information is posted here as a resource to other agencies interested in researching best practices regarding MWESB solicitation language.

PCC Rock Creek RFP for CM/GC (210.48 KB)for their Rock Creek Campus.

Port of Portland RFP for CMGC on HQP2 (72.37 KB)for their HQ/P2 project.

for their Interstate Maintenance Facility Renovation Project.


Procurement Language for Social Equity Initiatives:

Multnomah County procurements include specific Procurement Language requiring proposers to detail their sustainability and social equity efforts. Click on the Sustainable Purchasing link for more information regarding the County's efforts to incorporate sustainability into all procurement


Workforce Training and Hiring Program & Good Faith Effort Program Documents:

All formal construction projects include the County's Workforce Training and Hiring Program and the County's Good Faith Effort Program as part of the project specifications.  

Workforce Training & Hiring Program Specifications (1.18 MB)


Quarterly MWESB Summit Meetings:

Multnomah County has facilitated an on-going effort to bring together representatives from State and local governments to discuss MWESB policy issues. Quarterly meetings are convened with an objective of reviewing current policies, discussing opportunities for improvement, and creating consistent policies across agencies, wherever possible, to promote the success of MWESB businesses in the region.


Diversity Workforce in Construction Committee (DWCC):

The DWCC consists of a coalition of contractors, state and local agencies and construction industry organizations interested in developing best practices for diversifying the construction workforce.  Multnomah County participates in DWCC meetings and work sessions as part of its effort to work with stakeholders to ensure its programs and initiatives are run effectively and are producing the desired outcomes.

For more information about the Quarterly MWESB Summit meetings or about the DWCC meetings please contact Lee Fleming at 503-988-7540.