Just a couple of quick ones. The Parkway, prior to this year the Parkway management as it relates to events was primarily done by the Fairmount Park Commission, and since the merger, the Fairmount Park Commission is essentially taken out of operations. Well, the new Parks and Recs Commission has been taken out of operation. My assumption is that that now falls within your level of responsibility?
Do you have 53 4/21/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. any relationship with any of the events; i.e., parades, relating to the Parkway?
So that's essentially what I'm talking about in terms of events.
Not every single one, no. Usually we'll sit down with someone represented from the MDO's Office, Fairmount Park and my office to discuss how pricing is done and what we can do. That's what we've done in the last year and moving forward. We hope to come up with a formula that suits what everyone has been talking about so that the events can actually go on. But I basically serve as the liaison and try and negotiate really good deals so that the events that have happened in the past actually continue to happen.
More 54 4/21/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. specifically, who deals with the Welcome America activities as it relates to the Parkway?
I should have started with that question. In terms of Welcome America, how many of those days during that -- what is it, like seven days or ten days?
This year it will be from the 25th through the 4th of July. So I think it's almost ten days.
How many activities are targeted for the Parkway for the Welcome America timeframe?
Prior to 55 4/21/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. this year, were there any other activities targeted for the Parkway?
When we first got here in 2008, there were two days prior to the 4th of July that were on the Parkway. There was what we called Party on the Parkway. So actually -- I'm sorry. Forgive me. It was actually the day before the 4th of July and the 4th of July, which we called Party on the Parkway where there were activities. In 2009 and again in 2010, it's only the July 4th day.
What time do you -- I guess it's probably the day before. What time do you set up for the 4th of July event on the Parkway?
We usually start a week in advance because we have to build the stage.
I don't want to tell you -- I don't want to get into the real reason why I'm asking you these questions in public. 56 4/21/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc.
In terms of the actual costs associated with the 4th of July day itself, do you have those figures broken out? You don't have to give them to me now.
Okay. I'd like to get that if you can, and I need to -- is there any additional, during that event, any additional workforce used for the Parkway during that event because of informal usage, because there are more people on the Parkway? Is there any reassignment of police, because we do tend to have a significant amount of people coming from out of town for the various institutions along the Parkway.
I think I understand your question. This year it being on a Sunday, yes. It depends on the day that it falls on, but last year 57 4/21/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. because it was such -- it depends on the day it falls on and the weather and actually who the talent is as to how it draws. Last year we had over 600,000 people there during the height, but a million people probably came. So, yes, there is a lot of police presence on the Parkway during July 4th.
In terms of usage for the Parkway on the 4th, what time do you actually shut the Parkway down to all vehicular and pedestrian traffic?
Pretty much early that morning, because the festival starts at 11 o'clock. So pretty much probably around 8 o'clock at the latest.
I'll send them to 58 4/21/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. you today.
You're welcome. The Chair recognizes Councilman Goode.
Thank you, Madam President. Good morning, Ms. Johnson. In your testimony you said as Councilwoman Brown was reading, However, we have a number of contracts for the Philadelphia Marathon and Wawa Welcome America with minority contractors that at this time the City does not capture, but will endeavor to do so as they move forward. Can you explain that statement?
Well, there's no 23 current legislation that requires participation from non-profits. However, as I said earlier -- 59 4/21/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc.
There is legislation -- are you actually that familiar with the legislation?
I was just given some information that there is no current legislation.
Can OEO come to the table. (Witness approached witness table.)
Do you want me to finish? The City is working on including and capturing that information.
Your answer is actually just wrong. Ms. Dowd-Burton, are you familiar with the Article 6-109 of the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter?
I'm sorry. Before you answer the question, would you identify yourself for the record. 60 4/21/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc.
My name is Angela Dowd-Burton. I am Executive Director of the Office of Economic Opportunity. And I'm afraid, Councilman, I do not have the Charter in front of me.
That is the section of the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter that deals with disadvantaged businesses.
That is the section of the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter that requires annual participation goals. That's the section 20 of the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter that also allows Council to establish within The Philadelphia Code how those annual participation goals are set. Are you familiar with Section 25 17-1503 of The Philadelphia Code? 61 4/21/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc.
Yes, if that's regarding the participation of minority and female-owned businesses.
Does that section of the Code require annual participation goals with regard to non-profits?
I do not have that section in front of me and I cannot refer to it.
Section 13 17-1503(1)(b) states, City contract participation goals for DBEs in not-for-profit City contracts related to for-profit subcontracting opportunities. Does that refresh your memory?
So the Charter requires annual participation goals. The Charter allows City Council to establish how those goals should be set. City Council through ordinance has established that there should be goals 62 4/21/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. for not-for-profits as it relates to subcontracting opportunities. Is that the law or not?
Ms. Johnson, would you like to answer the question now?
I don't have those goals because I didn't know that that was part of it, and no one asked for those goals for the Marathon nor for Welcome America, but I brought the information that I had.
Ms. Dowd-Burton, do you think that it's appropriate that there be goals for disadvantaged businesses for the Philadelphia Marathon and Wawa Welcome America if they are City contracts?
Thank you, Madam President. 63 4/21/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc.
You're welcome. The Chair recognizes Councilman Clarke.
Thank you, Madam President. I just want to follow up on the questions I was asking you earlier. In terms of the promotions -- this is directed at Ms. Johnson. In terms of the promotions relating to the Welcome America event, who is responsible for it? Primarily your office or is it the other tourist related --
It's my office. We run the entire event. We do have partnerships with other tourism organizations, though, to help that.
Given the nature of the event, the name of the event, is there a reason why we don't ask or require the other tourism-related entities to be involved in the promotion 64 4/21/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. of that event since that is allegedly their primary function? Because this is an event, just based on my cursory review of being around and happen to represent those areas, a significant amount of areas, that people come. I'm assuming that's probably the highest volume of tourists to come through the City of Philadelphia at any point in time during the year, so my question is, why wouldn't they be a part of that process?
I just asked you and you said that you were responsible.
My office produces the event, but we have partnerships with the outside organizations, and GPTMC is absolutely one of them.
GPTMC provides us 65 4/21/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. with national promotion, partners. We meet with them regularly. They have a seat on the Board of Directors.
So they're very much involved, as is PCVB, Chamber of Commerce. We work with all of them so that we can get it out just as you were saying. We get that information out as much as we can.
So if there was a particular day that we wanted to promote for the Parkway that dealt with American in every sense of the way as it relates to all of the ethnic and social groups in America, that's something that they could play a significant role and a supportive role with your organization?
Are you saying in conjunction with Welcome or creating something new?
In conjunction with the week of Welcome 66 4/21/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. America, not necessarily on the 4th of July.
I'm not to speak for them, but, yes, they look at every event that happens in the City and how they can promote that. So I would assume that that would absolutely be something that they would embrace, yes.
Okay. There's an obvious follow-up after the hearings. I know you're probably saying, what is he trying to get at.
I will give you a call, as well as everyone that asked for some information.
Are there any other questions from members of the Committee? (No response.)
67 4/21/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. Seeing no one --
Given the fact that my colleague Councilman Goode has put on the record regarding the non-profit requirement, requirements for non-profit, and reflecting on the testimony from the Department of Health and DHS, my question to Angela Dowd-Burton is, what has been or will be the expectations for DHS given their numbers in this area?
Councilwoman, thank you for that question. We're working with Econsult to develop a process for measuring and managing the participation of non-profits and their role in terms of contributing to the economic development of businesses.
So working with Econsult, define that. What does 68 4/21/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. that mean?
Well, one of the things that the consultant has done is looked at various municipalities across the country to see what best in class practices there are for tracking participation with non-profit contracts, and what they found is, there really isn't any concentrated effort by municipalities. Some do it better than others, some not at all. What we're going to be doing in Philadelphia is looking at a way to track the leadership of a non-profit; for example, at the Board level, then at the executive level, look at the constituents that those organizations serve and even explore -- because we do ask right now in our contract language for them to identify the diversity strategies that they have as it relates to suppliers. So we're going to be looking at doing a more vigilant job of capturing that information and finding out really where 69 4/21/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. we are in driving economic development throughout the contracts that we pay.
Will that process or will those discussions also include stipulations and requirements for non-profits to do better when it comes to the procurement and subcontracting of their services?
And next year at this time you'll be able to tell us where you are with that and what those new stipulations are?
So you're telling me that there is a year window that Econsult has to come up with recommendations on how to --
No. I'm saying that their recommendations are expected out by the end of April, and we're expecting to put a process in place by July 1st as it relates to non-profit. So that next year this time you'll be 70 4/21/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. able to see some results and hear some success stories, probably some challenges as well, in terms of what we're attempting to do with non-profits.
Okay. But we can also expect to no longer hear that non-profits of any type are exempt from the Mayor's Strategic Plan?
Thank you for your testimony. Thank you, Madam President.
You're welcome. The Chair recognizes Councilman Goode.
Thank you, Madam President. Ms. Dowd-Burton, I understand the Administration's plan to try to classify non-profits in terms of counting them in terms of disadvantaged business participation. That actually is not 71 4/21/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. really the issue. The issue is for-profit subcontracting opportunities that already exist. So it's not whether you count the non-profit contract in terms of minority participation or disadvantaged business participation. The issue is whether you identify subcontracting opportunities that come through that contract and set goals for them.
So we don't have to wait for Econsult to look at Welcome America or to look at the Marathon to identify subcontracting opportunities to see that they should be available for disadvantaged businesses and set goals for them right now.
Are there any further questions? 72 4/21/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. Councilwoman Brown.
Yes, Madam President. An afterthought. The summer festival that we see on City Hall Courtyard during the summer, who's responsible for that? Where do those opportunities happen for those vendors on the courtyard? What agency is responsible for that?
It was the winter festival where you had the different vendors set up selling winter paraphernalia, wine --
They come in. They're a private company that contracts with the City to have that village. They just rent the space. They do all the contracting with the vendors, and they do have the goals for minority vendors and 73 4/21/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. disabled vendors.
They get a contract with my office, Office of the City Representative, as well as permitting from MDO.
But they are the ones that actually do the vendors, but they do follow the rules for minority vendors and disabled vendors.
And once the event is over, is there a back-end assessment, evaluation, look-see to actually verify that they have indeed followed the MBE, WBE requirements?
I think that's done up front, but I don't have the information. But I think that's part of the contract that we do with them, that they have to follow that. So I'll look that up for you.
There's a 74 4/21/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. disconnect. I'm missing something.
I think it's done up front. I think that they tell us the vendors that they have that are going to be on the Dilworth Plaza prior. So that information exists before the end of the month that they're out there, but I don't know if there's any follow-up at the end. I think it's part of the contracting.
That's my question. Putting it in writing is one thing and then seeing it is another. Making a determination on what you see is actually consistent or congruent with what you saw in writing is another. So the question is, on the back end is there some evaluation to verify that what was put in writing actually happened?
Before the contract is signed, they have to show 75 4/21/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. that they have reached the minority goals in their contracts. So that's why it wouldn't have been done after, because up front they have to show that they have this number, they reached this participating goal before they actually set up. But I can go back and make sure that I get that information to you. There's nothing at the end of that, no. 11
I would appreciate you submitting that to the Chair for my own look-see.
Thank you very much. Thank you both for your testimony. Thank you, Madam President.
You're welcome. Any further questions from members of the Committee? (No response.)
Seeing none, thank you. 76 4/21/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc.
I appreciate your testimony. MR. McPHERSON: Our next department is the Department of Commerce and OEO. (Witnesses approached witness table.)
Good morning. Welcome. Please I'd identify yourself for the record and proceed with your testimony.
Good morning, Council President. I'm Alan Greenberger, the Acting Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development and the Director of Commerce. Madam President, I have a rather lengthy testimony and I can read parts of it, summarize details or I can read the whole thing, at your discretion.
I don't think you have to read the whole 77 4/21/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. thing. We'll give a copy to the stenographer. It will be transcribed in full. So if you would abbreviate.
I will abbreviate it somewhat. Thank you. I appreciate that. I thought that might help you as well.
Here with me today are Kevin Dow, Acting Chief Operating Officer for the Commerce Department; Duane Bumb, the Senior Deputy Director of Commerce; Folasade Olanipekun-Lewis, our Deputy Commerce Director; and Angela Dowd-Burton, Executive Director of the Office of Economic Opportunity. In addition, several of our senior staff members are here from the Commerce Department as well. I am here to present testimony on behalf of the Department of Commerce's Fiscal Year 2011 Operating Budget request 78 4/21/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. 032 million over Fiscal Year 2010 obligations. 613 million to the Community Development Fund. As I understand, on April 13th, Mark Gale, the Aviation Director, testified to the Division of Aviation's portion of the budget request, and, therefore, today I will speak only to the Commerce Department's appropriations request. The mission of the Department of Commerce is to help businesses retain and expand jobs in the City by creating an environment in which businesses, both for-profit and not-for-profit, can thrive. We do this in partnership with numerous other development entities such 79 4/21/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. as those departments and agencies that support economic development, including such agencies as the Planning Commission, the Office of Housing and Community Development, the Redevelopment Authority, the Mayor's Office of Sustainability, L&I, Office of Arts and Culture, and Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation. We're guided in these endeavors by several core principles: To position Philadelphia as a sustainable and globally competitive city in the 21st century; to invest in areas where Philadelphia has a competitive advantage - existing growth sectors, quality of life amenities, vibrant neighborhoods and exceptional transportation infrastructure; to support job creation in the short term but also position the City for sustained economic growth in the long term; to support job growth across income and educational spectrums so that opportunities are 80 4/21/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. provided for all Philadelphians; and, lastly, to ensure that our business community and its workforce reflect the diversity of the City as a whole. We recognize that Philadelphia is not often seen as a business-friendly city. We do hear that from businesses. And we seek to improve that image by reducing the regulatory and financial barriers for business growth and operations by attracting new businesses and retaining and growing existing businesses and by demonstrating government support for businesses through increased direct contact and public relations. We also recognize that many businesses today are mobile and are capable of relocating some or all of their operations outside of Philadelphia. Factors such as the integrity of government, the transparency and processing of regulations, public health and safety, direct business services and 81 4/21/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. the quality of life in the City in general, all in addition to the tax environment, contribute greatly to the perception of the City as a place to do business. The programs and partnerships that are actively pursued by the Department of Commerce are intended to result in improvements to that perception and ultimately to a more robust business climate that produces decent jobs for its citizens. In the next section I'm going to go over the budget summary. 214 million. This is exclusive of the Aviation Fund, and it is summarized in the chart that is in the material that you have with you. A few details on this. The General Fund budget for the Department of Commerce reflects many of the 82 4/21/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. Administration's priorities. The increase in Class 100 by $260,000-plus is due to restoring the funding for two positions - the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development and the Office of Economic Opportunity Executive Director.
639 million is due to various line item changes in this class, the largest being the reclassification of an annual payment the City makes to the Pennsylvania Convention Center of $15 million. In Fiscal Year 2011, this amount will be transferred from Class 900, which is actually in the chart before you, which pursuant to a funding agreement will be reduced from million 19 to 15 million and reclassified as a lease 20 payment, hence the reclassification from 21 900 to 200. In Class 500, expenditures 22 from the Hotel Tax are accounted for in 23 each fiscal year. Collections are 24 estimated to be about $3 million higher 25 in FY10 than FY09 because pursuant to 83 4/21/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. 2 percent. 8 percent increase over FY10 estimated receipts. On to the Department and its reorganization. The Commerce Department's Fiscal Year 2011 request will fund General Fund staff 12 positions. In October 2009 and with the 13 support of Mayor Nutter, the Commerce 14 Department reorganized into three 15 divisions - Development Initiatives, 16 Neighborhood and Business Services, and 17 Finance and Administration. 18 In the proposed Fiscal Year 19 2011, which represents the second fiscal 20 year in which OEO is fully integrated, 21 the Commerce Department will have a 22 workforce that is approximately 11 23 percent smaller than Fiscal Year 2009, 24 when you account for the full staff 25 complement; that is to say, from all 84 4/21/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. funding sources, of 70 people. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Department reorganization is allowing us to operate more strategically, ensuring that the Department of Commerce will continue to deliver business constituent services in an effective and efficient manner. The Development Initiatives Division handles policy development, real estate development, and business attraction and retention. The Neighborhood and Business Services Division includes the Office of Business Services, which is formerly known as MBAT, the Office of Neighborhood Economic Development and the Office of Economic Opportunity, in that case formerly known as MBEC, which worked together to develop a business-friendly environment that encourages companies to locate and grow in the City. The Finance and Administration Division handles fiscal and accounting issues, contracts 85 4/21/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. execution and management, and payroll of human resources matters. I would also like to take this moment to talk about the Office of Economic Opportunity. In October 2009, the Mayor signed an Executive Order abolishing the Minority Business Economic Council and in its stead created the Office of Economic Opportunity, OEO. The same order also moved the separation of OEO from the Department of Finance to the Commerce Department. The Economic Opportunity Strategic Plan, which was released on February 8th, 2010, envisions several operational changes for the office. These include streamlining the certification process, taking a more proactive approach in enforcement, establishing a process for capturing participation on non-profit contracts, what we were just talking about, and capturing actual payments to subcontractors. Leveraging the resources of the Commerce Department, both 86 4/21/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. financial and intellectual, OEO will more aggressively execute the "Inclusion Works Strategic Plan," including the success of ready, willing and able M/W/DSBE business community and building a more diverse and work-ready labor force. OEO is committed to working with the City operating departments to achieve a percent 10 increase in companies registered to do 11 business with the City and to achieve a 12 25 percent goal of participation on City 13 contracts. 14 I'm going to, with your 15 permission, skip down to the rest and 16 give you a very quick summary of some of 17 the initiatives -- or rather the 18 accomplishments in 2010 and a few of the 19 initiatives in 2011.
I've already talked 20 about OEO. 0. The 23 Commerce Department launched a new online 24 Business Services Center, which is a 25 web-based home for all business-related 87 4/21/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. information. Since its launch, the website has seen its traffic increase from 11,000-plus visits per month to approximately 16,000 visits per month, a 41 percent increase. Last summer we completed the consolidation of the Philadelphia Commercial Development Corporation, referred to as PCDC, into the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation, resulting in improved services for small business and a more robust effort to provide access to capital. I'll be happy to answer questions about details of that later. We've also launched over $70 million in small business support programs, including new gap financing and loan guarantee programs, an enhanced Employer-Assisted Housing Program, facade and commercial corridor grants, all of which provide local stimulus to spur permanent job growth. 88 4/21/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. And lastly in this summary on business outreach initiatives, we contacted over 40,000 businesses in the City through a number of initiatives, including a direct outreach on behalf of the Mayor, five outreach sessions in conjunction with the federal Recovery Act, neighborhood corridor walks, and technical assistance and business education programs with our external partners. Lastly -- and we will provide members of Council with this document -- in February 2009, in partnership with PIDC, we launched something called Smart City, Smart Growth, which is a corporate attraction campaign. We jointly produced a collateral piece that we have copies of for you that will allow the City to proactively solicit companies by sector to consider locating in Philadelphia. This campaign will continue throughout FY11. In FY11, we're envisioning 89 4/21/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. several key initiatives. I just want to mention three of them. We intend to launch what we call Phase 2 of the Business Services Center, which is currently in development. It has two goals for the next release scheduled this spring - the development of something called a "decision wizard" and business registration. The decision wizard will guide businesses through answering a series of questions to help them determine the forms they need. Results will be listed in what you might think of as a dashboard format that registered users can save by project name. Further releases will allow -- this is Phase 3 -- will allow businesses to use the dashboard to submit their business licenses and permit forms online and hopefully pay for them online. I've mentioned the Economic Opportunity Strategic Plan. I'm sure we'll be talking more about that. Business Technical Assistance 90 4/21/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. Program: Because of the integration of PCDC, Commerce has increased its ability to provide small business technical assistance and capacity building. In addition to longstanding partnerships with established providers, Commerce plans to increase the number of service providers in order to reach more areas and more businesses, including immigrant-owned businesses. Let me talk about participation levels for a moment and then I'll draw this to a conclusion and we can answer questions. The Commerce Department is committed to support the Administration's goal of percent minority, women and 19 disabled-owned business participation in 20 City contracting. The projected 21 participation is 25 percent. In FY11, 22 the Commerce Department has one 23 for-profit contract budgeted at $75,000. 24 Commerce, however, serves -- and this, by 25 the way, is the contract I think that was 91 4/21/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. referred to previously with Econsult. Commerce, however, serves as a fiscal agent for a variety of entities, and the funds reported under the operating budget are funneled through the City.
Commerce has been leveraging our relationships to increase participation of M/W/DSBEs, and to cite one example that I'm personally involved with, the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation is in the process of designing and developing the Central Delaware River Waterfront Master Plan. That's approximately a $1 million contract. We have contracted with an entity that has committed to a percent M/W/DSBE 18 participation, and that is excluding the 19 participation of the Greater Philadelphia 20 Urban Affairs Coalition, and I wanted to 21 cite that because it's a good example of 22 some of the things that Councilman Goode and other members of Council have been talking about. We have under that master plan 92 4/21/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. program initiated an investigation of how to increase minority, women and disabled participation in development opportunities, real estate development opportunities. GPUAC is going to handle that for us. They're a non-profit. We need to find ways that Angela Dowd-Burton was talking about earlier to have them certified, which we're confident they will be. When that happens, the participation rate on that contract will be at 30 percent. Thank you for the opportunity to testify. We're happy to answer questions.
Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilman Goode.
Thank you, Madam President. Good morning, Mr. Greenberger.
On 4/21/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. your testimony, you say in October 2009, the Mayor signed an Executive Order abolishing the Minority Business Enterprise Council, MBEC, and in its stead created the Office of Economic Opportunity, OEO. Are you familiar with the expression "that dog don't hunt"?
Are you familiar with the expression "that dog don't hunt"?
My name is Kevin Dow. I'm the Acting Chief Operating Officer for the Department of Commerce. And one way in which we've restructured the office is to integrate it into the Department of Commerce. In 94 4/21/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. the past and previous to the change from the Mayor, it was in the Finance Department.
I didn't ask how it was restructured. I didn't ask about the Strategic Plan. I'm asking in terms of actual impact. I used the expression "that dog don't hunt." How is OEO any more effective than MBEC today? What has it produced? Tell me something tangible, concrete that it has produced that shows that it's a new agency.
The one concrete thing, which is one of the biggest concerns that we've had out of the organization, has been the certification process, that OEO's efforts and resources there were focused too much on that. So the first thing that we did was eliminate the, quote/unquote, Philadelphia certification process and created a registry whereby we would be able to more effectively gather minority, women and disabled-owned companies into our 95 4/21/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. registry.
Have you closed out the certification? Are you still doing certification this week?
I'm going to ask Angela to come on up so that she can directly answer that specific question.
So OEO is not out of the certification business. So that's not one example how concretely you have shifted human resources from certification to a goal-setting process, to a goal-achievement process, because you haven't. You still have human resources dedicated to certification.
And I'd like to explain that statement. Yes, we are still in certification. As of the end of --
If you're still doing certification, that's what MBEC did, I don't want to hear about it.
What we had at the end of -- as of February, we had applications within our system, the backlog, and because those applications came in prior to the changeover, we are now working through that backlog, and Angela can talk to you about that. So from that perspective, we are completing the old applications because we have to -- they came in under the old system.
And what does the Strategic Plan say with regard 97 4/21/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. to that?
What it says specifically on of the Strategic Plan, it says, Firms that are currently certified by the OEO and might migrate to the OEO registry of certified firms, any firms, any firms, whose OEO certification is going to expire between now and March 1st, 2010 will have their certifications automatically extended to December 31st, 2010. Is that what's happening?
So why are you doing certification if those certifications are extended to December 31st?
These are brand new applications, brand new applications that came into the system prior to the changeover. We have 11 of them left.
You said 98 4/21/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. they were backlogged.
That's on backlog. So at the time of the switchover, when we announced that plan, there were 60 names that were in our backlog. We cut it off at that point in time. Going forward, anyone else could come in under the new system.
So those people who are working on certification are not focused on the goal-achievement process or goal-setting process?
You've sat through budget hearings for most, if not all, departments. You have watched departments come in and say they don't know how the goal was arrived in terms of disadvantaged participation. You have watched departments say that the goal was wrong. You've watched departments say that OEO gave us the goal and we would have set a higher goal. Do you believe that it's time to actually move forward in terms of the Strategic Plan and that it was in fact wasted time continuing to do certification when there's actually a need to focus on the goal-setting and goal-achievement process?
Well, Councilman, I agree with you, it is time to move forward. I also recognize that there were companies that were counting on us when they walked through the door and gave us their documents to be evaluated for certification prior to our 100 4/21/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. Strategic Plan being launched, and so we wanted to do due diligence to them. We've driven down that backlog, expedited that process. We have left, and we 6 will be out of the business completely. 7 In the meantime, in addition to those 8 certification activities -- 9
Let me move forward in my question in terms of how different OEO is than MBEC. What should the overall DBE participation rate be for Fiscal Year '11?
It was determined by OEO consulting with the operating departments, evaluating the contracts that they were projecting for 101 4/21/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc. Fiscal Year '11, looking at the availability of companies within the OEO database and now registry to see if there was a level of participation that could be achieved. The Strategic Plan, looking at the availability in the marketplace, proposed a percent and that was 9 approved by the Economic Opportunity 10 Cabinet, and that's the direction that 11 we're headed in for Fiscal Year '11. 12
The disparity 15 study looked at the utilization rates of 16 the companies that we had in the 17 Philadelphia area, the metropolitan area 18 and the greater region, and when we look 19 at what we can do versus what we have 20 done, we're looking at an opportunity to 21 at least achieve 25 percent 22 participation. 23
The question 24 is, are the annual participation goals 25 set based upon the disparity study? 102 4/21/10 - WHOLE - BILL 100115, etc.
They're set upon the Strategic Plan, which the disparity study contributed to.