* WARNING: THIS IS AN UNOFFICIAL, INTRODUCTORY COPY OF THE BILL.
THE OFFICIAL COPY CONSIDERED BY THE CITY COUNCIL IS THE FIRST READER COPY.
INTRODUCTORY*
CITY OF BALTIMORE
COUNCIL BILL R
(Resolution)
Introduced by: Councilmember Holton
A RESOLUTION ENTITLED
A COUNCIL RESOLUTION concerning
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Informational Hearing - Local, Small, and Disadvantaged Business Purchasing Preferences for Baltimore
FOR the purpose of inviting representatives from City agencies concerned with purchasing and economic development to appear before the Council to discuss how the City can best leverage its purchasing expenditures to encourage the growth of local, small, and disadvantaged businesses.
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Recitals
In Baltimore, as is true throughout America, small businesses are often the critical drivers of job creation and economic expansion. Even the largest Fortune 500 company had to first start out as an entrepreneur's dream that someone was willing to risk turning into a small business. The pursuit of these dreams in small businesses has resulted in the creation of the majority of all new jobs over the past 15 years.
On the federal level, Congress and President Obama are currently working on ways to jump start the national economy by assisting small businesses throughout the country. This same focus on small businesses has proven to be effective in encouraging growth on a local level in many regions.
One of the best ways that governments at all levels have found to help local enterprises move up the ladder from dream, to small business, to major economic engine, is simply to buy the products produced by local small and disadvantaged businesses whenever possible. A majority of states, and many large cities comparable to Baltimore, have established formal programs to give local entrepreneurs a real chance to compete for government contracts. This ensures that the money these jurisdictions spend on goods and services is distributed in a way that benefits their local economies; allowing them to immediately recapture some of their expenditures through taxes, increase employment among their constituents, and permanently grow the local tax base.
Other jurisdictions have been maximizing the impact of their purchases in this way for 30 years or more. The longevity of these programs shows that any short-term costs have been seen to pale in comparison to the long-term boosts that are provided to the local economy. It is well past time that Baltimore join these jurisdictions in ensuring that the City's purchases support jobs for our citizens, as well as the day to day activities of City government.
The Local, Small, and Disadvantaged Business Enterprise programs used elsewhere take many different forms. Some approaches would doubtless prove more effective than others here in Baltimore. As a first step toward implementing a Local, Small, and Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program of its own, the City must examine the various models in use elsewhere. A frank discussion among the various arms of City government concerned with purchasing and economic development must then be had about the pluses and minuses of each model so that the best possible program for Baltimore can be designed and enacted by the Mayor and City Council.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF BALTIMORE, That representatives from City agencies concerned with purchasing and economic development are invited to appear before the Council to discuss how the City can best leverage its purchasing expenditures to encourage the growth of local, small, and disadvantaged businesses.
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be sent to the Mayor; the Director of Public Works, the Director of the Office of Minority and Women-Owned Business Development, the Finance Director, the Director of the Office of Employment Development, the President of the Baltimore Development Corporation, the City Solicitor, and the Mayor's Legislative Liaison to the City Council.
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