Revised City of South Bend Disparity Study Report

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City of South Bend Disoarity Study 2020 verified data on what it had paid to prime contractors. This required the City to devise a system for researching and eventually providing this information to CHA. These problems led to major delays in conducting the study. In addition to hin- dering research, the lack of a system will also make it more difficult to monitor, enforce and review any new initiatives. A good system is the most critical first step that South Bend can take. The City should immediately procure and implement an electronic data collec- tion system with at least the following functionality: • Full contact information for all firms, including email addresses, NAICS codes, race and gender ownership, and M/WBE certification status. • Contract/project-specific goal setting, using the data from this Study. • Utilization plan capture for prime contractor's submission of subcontractor utilization plans, including real-time verification of M/WBE certification status and NAICS codes, and proposed utilization/goal validation. • Contract compliance for certified and non -certified prime contract and subcontract payments for all formally procured contracts for all tiers of all subcontractors; verification of prompt payments to subcontractors; and information sharing between the City, prime vendors and subcontractors about the status of pay applications. • Spend analysis of informal expenditures, such as those made with agency credit cards or on purchase orders, to determine the utilization of certified firms. • Program report generation that provides data on utilization by industries, race, gender, dollar amount, procurement method, etc. • An integrated email notification and reminder engine to inform users of required actions, including reporting mandates and dates. • Outreach tools for eelasts and related communications, and event management for tracking registration and attendance. • Import/export integration with existing systems to exchange contract, payment, and vendor data. • Access by authorized City staff, prime contractors and subcontractors to perform all necessary activities. ©1010 Colette Holt & Associates, All Rights Reserved. 95