►
From YouTube: Inclusion Counts
Description
On this first-ever episode of Inclusion Counts, Rick Williams interviews Jen Olzinger from the City's Office of Management & Budget, David Pinkosky from the US Small Business Administration, and Tammi Davis from the Gary Sanitary District.
A
This
club,
the
show
is
called
inclusion,
counts
and
the
goal
of
the
show
is
basically
three
things:
one
to
educate
and
inform,
build
capacity
and
also
provide
contract
opportunities
for
the
minority,
women
and
veteran
business
community
and
small
communities
in
our
region.
It's
roughly
going
to
be
a
monthly
conversation
with
subject
matter.
Experts
in
these
areas
on
a
regular
basis,
and
today
our
first
guest
is
jen
ozinger
she's,
the
assistant
director
of
procurement
of
the
city
of
pittsburgh,.
B
A
Yeah,
my
little
ones
are
are
at
home,
they're,
getting
zoom
education
online
with
the
chart
of
school,
and
you
know
we're
trying
to
make
it
work
the
best
way
we
can.
I
just
had
to
increase
my
capacity
in
regards
to
our
comcast
wireless
service,
because
we
roughly
have
five
devices
every
day.
How
about
there
where
you're
at
I
know
what
are
you?
What
are
your
challenges
there
at
home.
B
Yeah
I've
got
an
online
college
student
from
home,
taking
her
classes
in
her
bedroom.
Her
brother
has
done
cyber
school
for
quite
a
long
time
already
he's
been
in
cyber,
so
it's
nothing
new
to
him,
but
it's
kind
of
she's.
I
feel
like
she's
missing
out
on
the
college
experience.
You
know,
you
know
everything
that
goes
along
with
it
other
than
the
learning.
A
Right
right
I
mean
we're
in
a
resilient
city
and
so
we're
just
showing
how
strong
we
are
in
these
times
with
of
coven.
So
I
know
we
don't
have
a
lot
of
time.
Just
want
to
kind
of
jump
into
a
few
things.
Can
you
kind
of
explain
your
role
with
the
city
of
pittsburgh
as
the
assistant
procurement
director.
B
Sure
so,
yes,
I
am
again
jennifer
olsinger.
I
am
assistant
director
for
the
office
of
management
and
budget
and
we're
right
down
the
hall
from
rick
when
we're
actually
in
the
office,
I'm
also
the
procurement
manager
for
the
city.
I
manage
a
team
of
eight
and
we
are
responsible
for
putting
out
all
bids
and
solicitations
for
the
city
and
getting
all
of
the
contracts
in
place
for
all
of
the
products
services.
B
You
know
construction
and
everything
that
it
takes
to
run
the
city,
so
departments
look
at
us
for
guidance
for
direction,
making
sure
that
things
are
within
city
code,
that
you
know
that
we're
purchasing
everything
the
way
we're
supposed
to
be
and
making
sure
that
the
contracts
benefit
the
city
in
the
best
way
possible.
So
that's
that's!
A
B
We
were
actually
very
fortunate,
then
a
lot
of
my
other
government
agencies
that
that
I'm
in
touch
with
we
were
already
fully
online
with
all
of
our
bids.
Some
of
our
counterparts
in
other
areas
of
the
state
are
still
you
know
they
were
still
on
paper,
so
it's
been
a
real
real
struggle
for
them,
so
we
were
very
fortunate
that
we
had
everything
already
online.
B
We
had
implemented
electronic
signatures
at
the
beginning
of
the
year,
as
well
as
part
of
the
grant,
a
grant
that
we
have
to
help
out
small
businesses
and
one
of
the
biggest
things
that
they
had
you
know
through
the
research
is
that
our
contracting
process
was
very
very
long
and
time
consuming,
which
you
know
was
not
good
for
small
businesses.
The
big
corporations,
you
know
they
could
they've
got
enough
money
to
you
know,
support
them,
but
the
smaller
businesses.
You
know
we
need
to
get
that
con.
B
B
So
we
were
also
very
fortunate
that
at
the
beginning
of
the
year
we
started
e-signatures
and
that
cut
our
you
know
the
majority
of
our
contracting
process
down
from
about
three
months
to
down
to
about
three
weeks,
so
that
has
been
huge
for
us,
especially
during
covid,
to
have
that
opportunity
now,
so
they
do
not
have
to
it's
also
reduced
the
expense
for
the
small
businesses
as
well,
because
they're,
not
they
previously
had
to
print
three
to
four
hard
copies
physically
sign
them.
They
were
having
to
get
things
notarized.
B
We
took
that
out
of
the
the
process
as
well,
so
we've
taken
that
expense
out
of
the
printing
and
everything
in
the
time
they
have
to
mail
them.
We
have
to
wait
so
now
they,
you
know
they
email
everything
in.
We
send
it
through
a
docusign
process
and
it's
really
fast
and
efficient,
and
it
has
really
really
benefited
the
small
businesses
and
really
helped
efficiencies
across
the
city
for
for
all
contracts.
So.
B
Yeah,
I
definitely
we've
definitely
seen
a
lot
more
variety
of
of
companies
bidding
in
the
past
year,
or
so
you
know,
I
think,
I
think
making
it
accessible
to
them.
You
know
really
helps
and
we've
also
begun
an
education
program
that
actually
started
last.
Just
this
week
we
had
the
first
of
three
sessions
in
conjunction
with
pitt's
small
business
development
center.
B
So
I
had
mentioned
that
we
had
received
a
grant
from
living
cities.
It's
called
a
living
cities
grant,
but
it's
run
by
citibank,
so
the
city
receives
fifty
thousand
dollars
to
make
these
improvements
and
make
all
everything
that
we
have
more
accessible
to.
Small
businesses
educate
the
small
businesses
on
what
it
is
to
do
business
with
the
city
and
also
what
it
is
to
that.
You
know
the
core
things
that
a
small
business
needs
to
know
and
understand
that
they
might
not
know.
B
You
know
if
you're
a
new
if
you're
a
cleaning
company-
that's
that's
starting
up
right.
These
education
sessions
are
saying
not
only
how
do
they
bid
on
things
for
the
city
but
what
it
takes
to
make
their
business
grow?
So
that's
this
educational
series
that
we
have
with
pit
we're
going
to
be
posting
them
online
on
our
website
after
they
are
all
complete.
B
B
The
first
one
was
focused
on
just
you
know,
all
of
the
resources
that
pitt
has
in
their
small
business
and
letting
people
know
what
is
out
there
for
free
for
them.
You
know
they
have
a
great
great
thing.
They
actually
got
rated
pits.
Pit
small
business
office
got
rated
first
in
the
nation
for
for
the
quality
of
of
the
services
that
they
provide.
B
So
we
have
a
really
nice
resource
right
here
in
our
our
neighborhood
for
small
businesses,
and
they
can
support
them
with
marketing
financing
getting
them.
You
know
lines
of
credit
or
loans,
the
right
kinds
of
loans,
so
there's
that
first
session
was
focused
on
that.
The
second
two
sessions
are
going
to
be
more
focused
on
the
the
city,
how
to
present
themselves
how
to
respond
to
an
rfp
in
the
best
way
and
also
how
to
close
the
deal
at
the
end,
how
to
present
themselves
help
them.
B
A
So
I
guess
with
that,
I
guess
we
should
see
uptick
in
the
registrations
with
our
procurement
site,
and
you
know
in
regards
to
the
various
industries.
Do
you
know
what
type
of
industries
are
signing
up
for
pitt
to
take
advantage
of
these
educational
and
compassibility
capacity,
but
building
opportunities.
B
Yeah
yeah
so
through
in
the
first
sessions
I
put
in
the
chat,
I
say
hey:
what
is
your
business
name,
because
you
know
it's
people's
names,
you
don't
know
what
they're
doing
you
know.
What
is
the
name
of
your
business
and
you
know
what
actually
is
it
that
you
do
and
we've
had
healthcare
people
we've
had
I.t
folks,
we've
had
different
types
of
consultants:
we've
had
architecture
firms,
we've
had
caterers,
we've
had
cleaning
companies.
B
B
A
A
B
B
Even
though,
while
we're
a
lot
of
us
aren't
there,
he
wanted
a
good,
deep
cleaning.
You
know
top
to
bottom.
You
know
we
always
you
know,
there's
a
daily
cleaning,
they
cleaned
the
bathrooms
and
things,
but
he
wanted
a
good,
deep
clean.
He
wanted
the
bathroom
sanitized
from
top
to
bottom,
all
the
common
spaces
sanitized
from
top
to
bottom.
You
know
counters
things
like
that,
so
we
put
a
bid
out
for
a
deep
cleaning
of
the
city
county
building
and
it
was
awarded
to
an
up
and
coming
new
small
business.
B
I
don't
think
she's
been
in
business
too
too
long,
maybe
a
year,
and
it
was
really
nice
for
her
to
see
a
local
small
business
win
that
bid
and
from
what
I
understand
they
came
in.
Did
the
work.
Did
it
efficiently
did
a
nice
job?
They
were.
You
know.
Dpw
was
very,
was
pleased
with
the
outcome.
So
now
you
know
now
she's
on
our
list
and
she's
already
won
one
thing
and
you
know
hopefully,
as
other
cleaning
things
come
up,
this
company
will
bid
again.
A
B
B
They
can
also,
then
look
at
the
bid
opportunities,
but
registering
will
get
them
automatically
emailed
as
soon
as
an
opportunity
comes
up
in
the
category
of
work
that
they
select.
So
again,
if
you're
a
cleaning
company
you
would
go
in
and
sign
up
for.
I
want
to
see
when
bids
come
for
cleaning
services
and
then,
as
soon
as
something
comes
up
in
that
category,
they
get
an
email
that
tells
them
there's
something
out
there.
They
can
also
look
at
our
current
bid
opportunities.
B
They
can
also
look
at
our
current
contracts
out
there,
so
they
can
see
when
the
the
our
current
contracts
expire
so
that
they
know
about
the
time
of
year
that
they're
going
to
see
something
coming
up
for
that,
and
we
also
have
a
new
thing
that
also
we
also
did
from
our
grant
money.
Is
we
created
a
buying
plan
and
there's
a
link
for
that
on
that
site
as
well?
B
The
buying
plan
is
a
comprehensive,
one-year
forecast,
not
only
for
the
city,
but
all
of
the
five
sister
agencies
and
authorities
of
the
city,
so
you're
gonna
see
opportunities
by
quarter
when
they're
gonna.
You
know
what
quarter
of
the
year
they're
going
to
be
coming
out
for
a
year
ahead,
so
that
small
businesses
can
go
and
look
and
plan
ahead
to
you
know
be
able
to
allocate
resources.
B
A
lot
of
small
businesses
are
a
one
or
two
man
show,
so
you
know
them
getting
notice
of
an
rfp,
seeing
it
on
the
news
in
the
newspaper
or
whatever,
and
only
having
four
weeks
to
scramble
to
you
know
to
get
everything
together
that
they
need.
They
can
proactively
get
those
things
in
place
and
have
their
you
know,
statement
of
capabilities
right,
their
their
resumes,
their
their
different
things
like
that
that
you
need
to
put
in
an
rfp
or
a
bid.
B
You
know
that
gives
them
time
to
plan
ahead
for
that.
So
that
gives
a
look
for
the
city
of
pittsburgh,
the
ura
urban
redevelopment
authority,
the
sports
and
exhibition
authority,
the
pittsburgh
parking
authority,
the
housing
authority
of
the
city
of
pittsburgh,
the
equipment,
leasing
authority
and
the
pittsburgh
water
and
sewer
authority.
So
you're
getting
one
a
one-stop
shop
at
an
outlook,
you'll
get
all
of
the
contact
information
for
all
of
those
agencies
and
they
all
have
different
sites
and
different.
B
You
know
contacts
for
how
they
do
their
bids,
so
that's
a
very,
very
nice
thing
that
everybody
should
look
at
and
check
out
that
buying
plan
and
make
those
connections
with
our
sister
authorities
as
well.
You
know,
I
think
a
common
misunderstanding
is
if
they
sign
up
for
the
city's
website,
that
they
are
also
getting
those
other
agencies,
and
it
is
not
a
one.
Stop
stop
each
authority
does
their
own
procurement
and
have
their
own
contacts.
B
A
A
A
Hey
dave
how's
it
going
good
thanks
good
to
see
you.
Oh
it's
great,
to
see
you
too,
it's
been
a
while,
since
we've
been
together
at
the
governmental
committee
meetings
that
we've
been
going
to,
thank
you
for
being
on
our
show
today.
You're
our
second
guest
for
inclusion
counts,
okay
cool,
so
I
just
want
to
kind
of
read
your
bio
a
little
bit
and
then
we'll
kind
of
dig
right
into
some
of
the
questions
that
everybody
wants
to
hear
about.
The
sba.
C
A
A
He
also
holds
multiple
government
contracting
certifications,
including
certified
procurement,
professional
from
the
association
of
procurement
and
technical
assistance,
centers
and
veteran
owned,
small
business
verification
assistance
counselor
from
the
va
center
for
verification
and
evaluation.
Dave
is
also
a
level
one
graduate
from
the
federal
acquisition
so
dave.
A
C
C
Absolutely
thank
you.
Rick
yeah
foxy
taxi
certification,
it's
federal
acquisition,
certification,
and
it
is
a
pretty
intense
government
contracting
course
that
a
number
of
procurement
professionals
in
the
federal
sector
have
to
go
through
a
lot
of
contracting
officers,
procurement,
center
representatives
and
other
kind
of
high
level.
C
C
A
How
have
things
I
guess
changed
be
because
of
covet.
I
know
that
we
we
started
from
your
experience
and
kind
of
moved
backwards
and
now
we're
coming
back
again
dealing
with
this
pandemic
and
everyone
you
know,
wants
to
know
again
how
you're
handling
that,
as
a
I
guess,
as
a
professional,
but
also
as
a
person
as
well.
I
mean,
because
you
came
into
this
relatively
new
role.
You
know
you
had
to
get
this
type
of
training
and
then
you
know
we're
dealing
with
a
global
pandemic
with
various
changes
that
centered
around
the
sba.
A
C
C
Yeah,
it's
it's
a
great
question.
It's
it's
been
interesting,
to
say
the
least.
I
I
have
to
admit
I've
enjoyed
it
as
much
as
I
can
anyway,
not
the
pandemic
part,
naturally,
but
the
counseling
and
working
with
the
clients
and
trying
to
help
people
navigate.
You
know
kind
of
the
this
craziness
that's
been
going
on
for
all
of
us.
You
know
one
of
the
things
we
take.
A
lot
of
pride
in
at
our
district
office
is
just
trying
to
be
all
around
business
counselors.
C
C
We
do
our
best
to
help
them,
navigate
that
and
obviously
we're
moving
into
more
of
our
recovery
type
type
of
phase.
Hopefully
so
we
can,
you
know,
we've
helped
some
of
our
clients
sort
of
readjust
some
of
their
expectations
and
things
like
that
for
some
of
the
programs
or
some
of
the
procurements.
They
had
hoped
to
try
and
get
one
of
the
interesting
things
from
the
federal
level
was
beyond
just
kind
of
the
sba
loan
programs
and
things
we
got
involved
in
obviously
with
like
ppp
and
idle
was
federal.
C
So,
obviously,
when
the
pandemic
hit
in
a
lot
of
cases,
we
still
had
projects
and
things
going
on,
because
in
my
case,
my
agency
actually
brought
on
more
staff
and
got
busy
busier
due
to
the
coveted
loans
and
the
assistance
programs.
We
were
trying
to
do
so.
Obviously,
that
was
onboarding
new
people,
whether
we
went
through
like
hr
staffing
firms
that
we
still
needed,
that
type
of
service
equipment,
purchases,
computers,
things
like
that
and
in
the
case
of
national
defense,
like
I
said
with
our
military,
you
know
that
stuff
never
goes
away.
C
C
But
lately
we've
been
seeing
a
lot
of
uptick
now
we're
trying
to
do
a
lot
more
outreach
and
get
kind
of
try
to
get
back
to
business
as
usual.
So
we've
been
having
a
lot
of
interest
from
businesses
that
haven't
traditionally
been
involved
in
procurement.
Looking
at
our
programs
and
things
so
we've
been
trying
to
help
them.
You
know
ramp
up,
get
procurement
ready
as
we
like
to
say
so
that
they
can
start
participating
in
the
government
market.
A
Yeah
I
was
going
to
ask
you.
I
know
that
you
cover
a
27
county
footprint.
Do
you
know
how
allegheny
county,
I
guess
fared
against
the
the
27
counties
that
you
served
and
you
know,
do
you
know
far
as
locally
any
minority
businesses
and
so
forth
that
had
these
opportunities,
I
know
that
go
ahead.
I'll,
ask
you
that.
C
Yeah,
absolutely
I
don't
have
specific
county
data,
that's
something
I
could
definitely
try
and
look
and
see
if
we
could
get
some
of
that
information.
As
far
as
the
businesses
that
were
able
to
weather
the
storm
yeah,
we
had
a
lot
of
minority
and
disadvantaged
businesses
that
were
still
performing
on
their
contracts.
We
actually
had
one
of
our
8a
clients
secure
a
very
nice
contract
award
with
nasa.
So,
like
I
said,
a
lot
of
those
types
of
things
were
still
happening
and
just
to
kind
of
clarify
the
8a
program.
C
That
is
our
small
and
disadvantaged
business
enterprise
program.
So
for
us,
that's
for
any
company
that
has
maybe
minority
ownership
or
an
individual
that
has
some
sort
of
handicap
status,
or
something
like
that,
a
disability
to
where
they
can
get
special
preference
on
government
contracts.
So,
like
I
said,
a
lot
of
those
types
of
things,
many
of
our
clients
in
those
programs
are
still
functioning
and
completing
their
federal
projects
without
without
really
any
hiccups.
At
all.
C
A
C
So
we
have
clients
in
our
certification
programs
that
were
able
to
access
those
opportunities,
just
like
any
other
small
business,
so
they
didn't
actually
have
to
be
in
the
a
day
or
the
hub
zone
or
any
of
those
programs
to
get
those
opportunities.
But
we
had
quite
a
few
that
were
still
in
there
within
our
27
county
region.
I
don't
have
unfortunately,
like
I
said
I
didn't
pull
all
the
exact
data,
so
I
don't
have
numbers
for
you,
but
yeah.
We
had
a
number
of
clients.
C
We
were
helping
that,
like
I
said
they
were
actually
kind
of
readjusting.
We
actually
had
a
woman
in
a
small
business
who
makes
a
phenomenal
product
called
the
safety
sleeper,
which
is
a
kind
of
a
device.
That's
used
to
assist
clients
that
have
people
in
their
families
that
have
autism
it's
a
it's
almost
like
a
hut
type
thing.
I
guess
that
goes
on
your
bed
and
helps
the
those
people
that
have
those
issues
feel
secure
and
things
when
they're
sleeping
and
she
started
making
ppe
masks.
C
You
know
the
facial
masks
and
one
of
the
great
things
she
did
was.
Not
only
did
she
make
the
regular
cloth
masks,
but
you
know
having
the
understanding
of
the
needs
of
people
with
disabilities.
She
actually
has
a
clear
shield
over
the
mouth
of
her
face
masks
so
that
people
that
you
know
are
hard
of
hearing
or
if
they're,
deaf
or
whatever
you
know
anything
like
that,
they
can
actually
still
see
and
read
lips
and
all
that
sort
of
thing
to
communicate.
So
we
had
a
number
of
clients
that
kind
of
repositioned
themselves.
A
We'll
follow
up
with
that.
You
made
a
tremendous
segue,
because
I
know
that
when
we
were
doing
our
prep
session,
we
wanted
to
talk
about
some
of
the
changes
in
the
woman-owned
small
business
and
the
economic
disadvantage
small
business
program.
So
I'll
kind
of
let
you
talk
about
the
women-owned
small
business
program
and
then
the
differences
of
the
economically
disadvantaged
women
on
small
business.
C
Sure
sure,
absolutely
yeah,
we
were
pretty
excited
about
the
about
the
changes
that
have
occurred
this
year
in
the
women-owned
program
and
also
the
hubzone
program,
but
especially
the
woman-owned
program,
because
that's
taking
place
kind
of
literally
as
we
speak,
the
transition
for
that
is
actually
happening
on
october
15th.
So
traditionally,
for
the
federal
woman-owned
small
business
program,
the
federal
government
has
had
a
five
percent
contracting
goal
for
women
owned
small
businesses
to
compete
on
federal
contracts
and
we
have
goals
actually
for
all
of
our
socioeconomic
programs.
C
I
should
probably
kind
of
start
with
that.
The
overall
small
business
federal
goal
for
all
small
businesses
is
23
percent.
So
what
that
means
is
23
of
all
federal
contracting
dollars
are
required
to
go
to
small
businesses.
Now,
when
I
say
that
number
sometimes
a
lot
of
my
presentations
when
I'm
talking
to
people,
they
think
oh
23,
that's
not
really
good!
C
Then,
when
you
talk
about
the
other
certification
programs
in
the
case
of
the
woman
owned
in
the
8a
program,
their
five
percent
goals,
the
veteran
program
is
three
percent,
and
the
hubzone
program
is
three
percent.
So
when
you
hear
percentage
numbers
that
sound
like
single,
digits
or
low
you
know,
low
20s
doesn't
sound
like
a
whole
heck
of
a
lot
right.
C
But
whenever
you
put
that
into
perspective
of
the
federal
budget,
which
of
course
is
a
lot
of
money,
our
23
goal
last
year,
we
actually
hit
26
percent
and
that
was
132.9
billion
dollars
that
was
set
aside,
specifically
for
small
businesses.
And,
conversely,
when
you
go
down
to
those
other
programs,
you
know
five
percent
actually,
for
the
woman
owned
program
was
right,
around
26
billion
that
was
spent
in
that
we
actually
exceeded
that
goal
too.
We
were
5.1.
C
The
veteran
owned
program
was
three
percent
at
22
billion
dollars.
We
actually
hit
four
percent
on
that
goal
and
also
the
hubzone
program
was
three
percent.
Now
hubzone
we
are
a
little
short
on
2.28,
but
that
was
still
11.4
billion
dollars.
But
in
the
case
of
the
socio-economic
program
I
mentioned
the
8a
program,
which
again
is
for
our
minority
and
disadvantaged
businesses.
We
actually
doubled
that
goal,
so
we
had
a
5
federal
goal
for
all
agencies.
Last
year
we
hit
10.29
and
that
was
51.6
billion
dollars.
C
So
when
I'm
talking
about
these
goals
and
these
certifications
we're
talking
about
a
lot
of
federal
contracting
dollars,
that
obviously
is
taxpayer
money,
so
we're
very,
very
cautious
about
that
and
how
we
track
those
spends
and
that's
one
of
the
things
we
do
at
the
sba.
In
addition
to
helping
the
clients
and
the
small
businesses
get
into
government
contracting,
we
are
the
agency,
that's
the
watchdog
and
responsible
for
assisting
the
other
federal
agencies
to
actually
meet
their
contracting
goals.
C
The
contracting
officer
at
that
point
would
go
back
into
the
sba's
online
system,
where
you
uploaded
your
documents
and
have
to
actually
check
your
documents
to
verify
that
you
were
a
woman-owned
small
business.
Now
the
problem
with
that
was,
even
though
we
did
hit
that
goal
and
we're,
like
I
said
slightly
over
the
problem
we've
had
over
the
years
with
that
program-
is
that
the
contracting
officers
are
buying
experts.
You
know
contracting
officers
are
experts
at
federal
purchasing.
They
understand
far
regulations,
which
is
federal
acquisition
regulations.
They
understand
how
to
negotiate.
Do
market
research.
C
They
are
not
small
business
specialists,
so
in
that
case
you
had
people
that
unfortunately
talked
to
a
lot
of
contracting
officers.
You
know
they've,
never
even
really
looked
at
an
operating
agreement.
They
don't
understand
small
business
licenses
and
certifications.
Yet
that
was
the
individual
on
the
federal
side
responsible
for
verifying
that
information
before
making
an
award.
A
C
A
Dave
dave:
I
wanted
to
kind
of
kind
of
break
it
down
a
little
bit,
I'm
a
woman-owned
business.
What
type
of
businesses
are
under
this
program
just
kind
of
high
level,
real
quick,
because
you
know
if
we
have
some
small
businesses
that
are
interested
in
government
procurement,
you
know
we
don't
want
to
scare
them
off.
We
we.
B
C
Absolutely
well
just
to
be
considered
it's
again
just
a
matter
of
doing
a
couple
of
registrations
and
certifications
and
gathering
your
business
documents
uploading
them
into
that
online.
Depository
I
mentioned,
but
beyond
that,
the
next
codes
that
are
attached
to
that
pretty
much
every
industry
is
eligible,
but
kind
of
where
we
get
into
a
difference.
What's
unique
about
the
women
owned
program
is
there's
sort
of
two
levels
to
it?
C
We
have
the
overall
women
in
small
business
program
in
which
there's
about
almost
300
nice
codes
that
are
approved
for
use
in
that
program,
meaning
if
your
industry
is
in
one
of
those
north
american
industry,
classification
system
codes
or
nakes.
That's
what
designates
what
you
do
on
a
day-to-day.
You
know
day-to-day
business.
A
C
Remarks
before
you
like,
if
I
could,
I
just
you,
know,
I
kind
of
end
all
my
outreach
sessions
with
this.
I
just
want
the
small
business
owners-
women
hubzone,
if
you're,
just
a
general
small
business
minority,
says
whatever
you
know,
if
you're,
if
you're
a
small
business,
just
understand
that
there's
a
lot
of
amazing
resources
out
there
for
you
to
use.
You
know
we
exist.
As
a
federal
agency,
we
fall
under
the
executive
branch
our
agency's
been
around
since
1953.
C
Our
mission
is
to
help
small
businesses
grow,
expand
recover
whatever
that
means
for
you
within
your
small
business
life
cycle.
So
whatever
we
can
do
to
support
you,
please
do
not
hesitate
to
reach
out
to
us.
Like
I
mentioned
when
we
started
in
addition
to
what
we
do
at
the
sba,
we
have
a
lot
of
amazing
partners
out
there,
our
small
business
development,
centers
women's
business,
centers
our
procurement,
technical
assistance,
center
partners.
You
know
a
score,
which
is
the
service
corps
retired
executives.
These
are
all
agencies
that
are
government
funded.
C
Even
if
they're,
not
direct
government
employees
that
offer
completely
free
business,
counseling
services
or
in
some
cases
they
may
charge
a
very,
very
small
fee
of
like
10
or
20
bucks,
which
is
well
worth
the
investment
for
some
of
the
trainings
and
things
you
get
access
to.
So
just
understand
that
you're
not
alone
out
there.
There
are
a
lot
of
people
that
are
experts
in
their
fields
that
you
know
devote
their
lives
to
this
assisting
small
businesses
and
help
you
grow
and
expand,
and
all
that
fun
stuff.
So
anything
we
could
do
to
help.
C
A
D
A
A
Just
want
to
know,
I
mean
how
are
we,
how
are
you
dealing
with
the
the
whole
pandemic
situation
with
you
personally
and
professionally
in
this
space?
I
know
you
know.
I've
talked
to
some
previous
guests
and
they're,
trying
to
manage
kids
and
and
manage
work
and
and
so
forth.
You
know
what
type
of
things
are
you
doing
to
survive
during
these
these
turbulent
times.
D
I'm
trying
to
really
stay
focused.
I
can
admit
that
it
has
been
very
difficult,
very
challenging
when
we
first
started
the
pandemic
and
working
from
home.
I
can
tell
you
that
I
hit
the
ground
running.
I
I
didn't
stop.
I
mean
on
march
23rd
I
started
working
from
home
every
day
and
from
march
23rd
I
would
say
all
the
way
up
until
mid-june
late
june,
I
was
hitting
the
ground
hard
every
day.
D
D
I
I
was
really
really
exhausted
and
everybody
at
that
point
was
doing
zoom
meetings,
so
they
accounted
for
the
fact
that
you
could
wake
up
and
be
at
work
with
only
10
steps,
so
calls
started
at
8
o'clock
in
the
morning
versus
before
they
would
at
least
give
you
time
to
get
in
the
office.
You
know
all
of
that
was
going
out
the
window.
All
of
that
was
going
out
the
window.
D
So
I
think
that
some
of
our
stakeholders
and
and
even
my
internal
and
external
colleagues
said
you
know
what
you
can
remove
getting
dress
time.
You
can
remove
travel
time
to
and
from
these
meetings,
so
it
was
like
back-to-back
calls.
You
know,
but
overall,
I'm
just
really
trying
to
stay
focused
on
the
job
at
hand
and
then
just
stay
focused
on
my
own
health
that
I
have
to
be
healthy
and
wise.
So
it's
a
struggle
like
everybody
else,
but
we're
managing
through
it.
Yeah
yeah.
A
Because
you
have
an
internal
responsibility
and
kind
of
moving
policy
kind
of
forward
and
then
also
you
have
an
external
responsibility
far
as
compliance
is
concerned
and
engagement
and
getting
people
in
and
and
that's
kind
of
what
you've
been
doing
for
the
last.
I
don't
know
you
know
since
you've
been
with
the
gary
indiana
district,
and
so
I
wanted
you
to
kind
of
unpack
that
a
little
bit
of
how
you
came
to
that
position,
because
that
wasn't
the
initial
position
you
had
correct.
D
Yes,
so
my
actual
title
is
director
of
compliance
and
policy
engagement
for
the
gary
sanitary
district
and
in
coming
back
to
working
in
municipal
government
or
at
least
a
municipally
owned
utility.
Here
in
gary,
I
had
the
very
fortunate
opportunity
to
craft
the
title,
as
well
as
what
the
position
entailed
and
from
years
of
experience
in
doing
this,
which
is
now
almost
20
years
that
I
have
been
working
in
this
space.
D
Right-
and
I
can't
do
my
job
effectively
sitting
behind
a
desk
all
day-
I
have
to
be
out
there
in
the
community.
They
have
to
see
me
they
have
to
feel
me.
You
know
businesses,
residents,
stakeholders.
I
have
to
be
out
there
as
much
as
some
of
our
other
engagement
partners.
We,
we
all
have
to
be
in
that
room
together,
and
so
you
know
I
always
explain
internally
and
externally
that
compliance
is
the
end
result.
A
Wow
and
so
in
saying
policy,
what
type
of
policies
have
you
changed
from
being
outward
engagement
that
you've
been
doing
with
the
community?
You
know
what
type
of
barriers
have
you
I
guess
lifted
to
allow
more
contracting
with
the
minority
business
community
and
also
the
overall
business
community
of
gary
indiana.
D
Experts
we
are
the
ones
that
are
sitting
in
front
of
contractors,
we're
the
ones
that
sitting
in
front
of
vendors
we're
the
ones
that
get
stopped
at
the
grocery
store
in
the
church
line.
Where
you
got
to
go,
drop
off
your
tithes
and
offering-
and
somebody
says
you
know,
by
the
way
you
know
I've
got
a
grandson-
that's
been
trying
to
get
into
the
construction
trades
and
hasn't
been
able
to
do
that.
You
know
for
the
past
couple
years.
D
You
know
we're
the
ones
that
they
see
at
some
meeting
in
in
the
community
and
say
you
know:
I've
been
trying.
I've
been
bidding
on
these
government
projects
for
years
and
haven't
been
able
to
get
a
one.
Yet
you
know
we're
the
ones.
That's
there
you
know.
So
you
know
it's
been
a
very
intentional
focus
to
present
those
of
us
in
the
space
as
the
ones
who
actually
know
what
we're
doing.
D
You
know,
and
the
answer
to
that
question
was
yes,
it
does
and
then,
in
looking
at
the
compliance
reports,
you
know
to
see:
where
are
we
trending?
Where
have
we
kind
of
been
kind
of
consistent,
whether
we're
meeting
it
or
not,
meeting
it?
Where
are
the
gaps
where
the
deficiencies?
What
do
we
need
to
change?
And
so
the
former
mayor
and-
and
I
were
able
to
have
that
discussion
and
with
our
corporation
council
at
that
time,
to
take
a
look
at
our
ordinances
to
see
if
they
just
made
sense?
D
If
they
were
still,
you
know,
they
need
to
be
updated
up
to
date
and
then
from
our
attending
the
american
contract
compliance
association.
You
know
ricky,
and
I
were
doing
that
for
years
I
was
able
to
get
some
language,
some
good
language,
some
good
examples,
best
practices
from
our
colleagues
and
and
recommend
that
type
of
language,
and
so
now
that
we
have
a
new
administration
this
year
they
started
january
of
this
year.
D
If
you
will
not
in
the
you
know,
right
right,
you
know
not
in
terms
of
I
got
the
sword,
and
you
know
our
heads
are
on
the
chopping
block
you
know,
but
one
who
is
charged
with
executing
and
implementing
that
policy
to
actually
draft
it.
You
know
because
we
are
the
ones
who
have
to
enforce
it
and
we
don't
always
have
that
opportunity,
so
we've
been
able
to
get
that
done
and
while
we
are
updating
our
procurement
policy,
we're
also
updating
our
bid
specifications.
D
D
A
D
So
I
don't
want
to
know
what
you're
going
to
do
at
time
that
you're
made
aware
of
the
project
to
say:
oh
we'll
call
some
diverse
vendors
or
the
sale
give
me
a
list
and
we'll
contact
those
on
your
list.
I
want
to
see
what
what
are
you
doing
every
day
before
you
even
came
to
the
gary
sanitary
district
to
even
propose
what
type
of
outreach
events
have
you
participated
in
you
know
what
has
been
that
result?
D
Do
you
have
a
database
of
existing
minority
women
and
veteran-owned
businesses
already,
so
those
are
some
of
the
things
that
we
ask
them
to
identify
to
see.
If
this
is,
you
know
just
a
part
of
the
way
they
do
business,
or
are
they
just
doing
this?
To
appease
us
and
they'll,
get
the
contract
and
do
a
bait
and
switch.
So
those
are
some
of
the
things
that
we're
looking
for
for
from
a
proactive
standpoint
and
in
defining
inclusion.
What
that
looks
like
for
us.
D
A
Wow
that
that's
a
lot
tammy
with
me
and
that's
good
for
for
us
to
know
kind
of
moving
forward
that
you're
really
putting
the
clamps
down
on
contracts
in
gary
indiana.
I
kind
of
want
to
go
backward
a
little
bit
and
let
I
guess
let
the
I
guess
audience
know
like
about
gary.
You
know:
what's
the
population
what's
the
mix
as
far
as
white
black
and
different
minorities
in
that
space,
and
what
are
your
contracting
goals
if
you
haven't,
or
is
it
by
contract
with
goal
setting.
D
D
It
is
anticipated
and
not
exactly
in
the
most
positive
way
that,
as
a
result
of
this
year's
census,
that
our
numbers
will
dramatically
decrease
from
that
77
000..
So
we
are
losing
population.
Unfortunately,
at
an
alarming
rate
and
in
in
terms
of
demographics,
I
can
say
that
majority
of
our
residents
are
african-american
and,
I
won't
say,
senior
citizens,
but
definitely
like
baby
boomers.
D
So,
while
it
sounded
good
for
a
city
that
was
had
way
more
than
a
hundred
thousand
residents
right
and
then
like
eighty
percent
of
our
population
was
african-american,
the
assumption
was
made
that,
if
we're
80
african-american,
then
66
and
two-thirds
should
be
reasonable
and
rather
than
saying,
african-american
residents
must
work.
It
was
a
race
and
gender
neutral
approach
right
and
so
from
a
procurement
standpoint.
D
I
believe
it's
20
with
women-owned
businesses
and
5
with
veteran-owned
businesses,
and
these
are
aspirational
goals
right
now,
because
we
have
not
initiated
a
disparity
study,
so
we
have
to
word
it
as
an
aspirational
goal.
So
as
I'm
crafting
our
procurement
policy,
keeping
those
aspirational
goals
in
mind,
however,
holding
our
proposer's
feet
to
the
fire
with
those
documents
of
identifying
who
you're
going
to
be
using
up
front
and
making
a
diverse
and
inclusive
response,
you
know
part
of
what
we're
looking
for
in
determining
responsive
and
responsible.
D
And-
and
this
is
why
I
say
compliance
is
the
end
result.
You
know
it
starts
at
the
beginning.
So
when
the
project
starts
and
when
I
say
starts
I'm
talking
about
when
we
identify
there's
a
problem
and
there's
a
need
to
go
out
forbid
and
fix
it.
So
that's
when
I
like
to
get
involved,
that's
where
we
need
to
be
involved
right
at
the
design
phase
right
at
the
time
that
the
board
even
approves
a
project
quite
often
times
I
sit
with
our
design
engineers.
D
I
want
to
understand
the
scope
so
that
before
we
even
go
out
for
bid,
I
have
an
idea
of
who's
already
out
there
in
the
universe
to
do
the
project,
so
I
know
before
it
even
goes
out
to
bed.
If
it's
realistic,
then
we'll
be
able
to
meet
compliance,
and
so
at
the
time
that
by
the
time
we
have
a
pre-bid
or
pre-proposal
meeting,
I
can
address
some
of
those
needed
trades
or
needed
suppliers
that
we
would
need
for
that
particular
procurement
and
generally
speak
to
that.
D
Like
I
would
say,
look
I
know
that
we
only
have
one
black
general
contractor
here
in
gary
indiana.
I
know
that
so
I
may
not
be
expecting
him
to
come
with
the
list
of
five
different
gary
minority
contractors,
but
what
I
will
say
is
I
need
for
you
to
do
your
due
diligence.
I
need
for
you
to
if
they're,
not
in
gary,
I
need
for
you
to
identify
a
minority,
woman
or
veteran-owned
business
in
a
surrounding
area
and
then
at
the
time.
A
D
D
I
I'm
pretty
confident
that
it's
less
than
that
and
just
driving
around
and
being
out
in
the
community.
I
think
it's
less
than
that
right.
So
population
doesn't
equate
to
the
number
of
businesses
that
you
have
right,
and
so
we
are
challenged
in
that
area
right
of
having
diverse
firms.
So
I
encourage
companies
to
reach
out
to
the
surrounding
areas.
D
Now
the
state
of
indiana
offers
a
reciprocal
certification
for
businesses
that
are
certified
by
surrounding
states.
So
in
even
my
outreach,
I've
talked
to
businesses
in
michigan,
wisconsin,
chicago
and
particularly
for
minority
businesses
and
inform
them
of
the
opportunities
that
further
exist.
Should
they
apply
for
that
reciprocal
application
with
the
state,
so
it
it
counts
towards
our
goal,
but
we
don't
want
businesses
to
make
that
their
first
point
of
contact.
D
So
we
almost
use
like
the
the
old
hood
section,
three
model
of
where
you
reach
out
to
where
the
project
is
first,
so
for
us
priority
level,
one
are
gary
minority,
women,
veteran
owned
businesses.
The
second
level
that
we
want
them
to
reach
out
to
are
those
that's
within
our
county.
The
third
is
within
the
region.
A
Yeah,
thanks
from
thanks
for
unpacking
that,
because
that's
important,
you
know
as
as
we
grow
as
a
city,
you
know
more
contracting
opportunities
are
coming.
I
do
want
to
ask
you
kind
of
one
final
question.
Well,
a
couple
questions,
we're
kind
of
winding
down
one:
do
you
have
any
capacity
building
opportunities
to
grow
the
network
in
pipeline
for
gary
businesses
and
social
things
specifically
contracting.
D
But
in
the
meantime
we
have
a
tendency
to
either
create
webinars
such
as
this
that
are
informative
and
educational.
We
work
a
lot
with
our
sba
office
here
in
indiana
to
host
trainings
with
a
lot
of
other
different
partners.
I've
done
things
with
the
department
of
labor.
We've
had
full-blown
conferences
with
like
faa
federal
highway
administration,
to
provide
additional
information
to
our
businesses,
but
recognizing
that
we
can't
do
it
all,
because
I'm
very
very
small
staffed.
D
We
work
with
some
of
our
universities
that
have
a
capacity
building
not
directly
the
name,
but
as
a
result
of
what
they
do.
They
allow
for
that
type
of
growth
and
development
for
our
vendors.
So,
for
example,
indiana
university
northwest
here
in
gary
indiana.
They
have
a
small
business
incubator
that
takes
them
through
proper
licensing.
D
D
Going
back
to
engagement,
that's
why
it's
important
for
us
to
be
out
in
the
community
building
these
relationships,
making
ourselves
known
so
to
the
degree
that
we
can't
self-perform
something
in-house
that
we
can
grow,
develop,
identify
and
retain
our
minority
businesses
by
supporting
other
programs
that
exist
for
that
sole
purpose,
and
that's
why
the
engagement
part
is
so
important.
We
cannot
do
it
all.
We
can't
do
it
all.
D
It's
going
to
be
critical
to
their
capacity
building
and
our
pipeline
building
right
that
we're
able
to
stay
connected,
and
so
I
would
say,
keep
this
up.
It's
it's
a
great
opportunity.
We've
used
the
zoom
platform
to
provide
educational
and
informative
webinars,
and
we
don't
have
it
all
right
in
gary
indiana.
We
don't
we're
we're
trying
to
get
there.
We
have
a
lot
of
ideas,
but
I
think
the
start
of
looking
at
our
policies
and
seeing
how
they
reflect
what
the
industry
calls
for,
because
sometimes
they
don't
always
match.
D
We
create
policies
and
legislation,
but
the
industry
is
saying:
that's
not
how
we
work.
That's
not
how
we
operate.
So
when
we're
able
to
get
the
policy
makers,
the
industry,
leaders
and
the
practitioners
ricardo,
like
you,
and
I,
the
practitioners
that
work
with
industry
and
implement
the
policies.
That's
when
you
have
greater
success,
that's
when
you
have
greater
success,
so
I
would
say:
keep
up
the
good
work
and
no
matter
where
I
am.
You
can
always
count
on
me
as
a
friend
rick
and
definitely
as
a
resource
to
philly.
D
A
Thank
you
again,
tammy
for
being
a
mentor
to
me
through
this
process.
When
I
started
this
work
in
2015,
there's
just
so
much
to
learn
in
this
space
and
it's
continually
evolving
and-
and
this
is
kind
of
the
opportunity
for
us
at
inclusion-
counts
to
kind
of
bring
in
subject
matter.
Experts
like
yourself
that
have
been
doing
this
for
20
years.