Title
Entrepreneurship Consulting Services Agreement - Requirements Contract (Ordinance S-48772)
Description
Request to authorize the City Manager, or his designee, to enter into a contract with Samira Cooke/Purposeful World Strategies (Consultant) to purchase consulting services for the Community and Economic Development, Human Services, Library, and Neighborhood Services departments. The aggregate contract value will not exceed $100,000. Further request authorization for the City Controller to disburse all funds related to this item. There is no impact to the General Fund. Funding is available from the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) grant.
Report
Summary
The City’s Community and Economic Development, Human Services, Neighborhood Services, and Library departments offer numerous programs to assist entrepreneur, micro business, and small business owners (neighborhood small businesses) with education, management and technical assistance, outreach, funding, and workforce assistance. These departments met collectively over the past several months to identify commonalities among the services currently being provided through each department, and to identify gaps and opportunities to collaborate. To gain a clearer understanding of the needs of the City’s local small business community and enhance the existing entrepreneur ecosystem, this interdepartmental team seeks to obtain the following services.
If approved, the Consultant will conduct an environmental assessment of entrepreneurial and small business programs, services, and educational training available in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area from for- and non-profit organizations, educational institutions, government entities, public agencies, community-based organizations, faith-based organizations, and/or small businesses, to inventory resources and identify duplications, similarities, and differences. Based on the results of this assessment, additional services may include surveying neighborhood small businesses to identify their needs, including workforce needs; identifying gaps between available services and/or programs and the needs of neighborhood small business owners; and recommending types of programs and services.
Upon completion of the environmental assessment, the Consultant will collaborate with City staff to create a Small Business and Entrepreneurial Program Roadmap that will include a comprehensive training strategy and an approach to providing and marketing the needed training programs and services in English and Spanish to meet the needs of neighborhood small businesses in Phoenix.
Procurement Information
In accordance with Administrative Regulation 3.10, an exception to the procurement process was approved to select this vendor following a solicitation for which no responses were received.
Contract Term
If approved the contract term will begin on or about July 15, 2022, for a one-year term with a one-year renewal option.
Financial Impact
No general funds will be impacted as grant funds will be utilized, and the aggregate contract value will not exceed $100,000 and funds are available from the WIOA grant.
Department
Responsible Department
This item is submitted by Deputy City Manager Ginger Spencer and the Community and Economic Development Department.