LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Today, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a motion authored by Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell and Board Chair Lindsey P. Horvath to further the County’s progress in making its contracting and procurement process more equitable by leveraging the $6 to $9 billion the County spends on goods and services annually to create pipelines into quality jobs on County contracts. The motion directs the Departments of Internal Services and Economic Opportunity, along with other key departments, to report back with recommendations for using the County’s market power to compel county contractors to hire residents who have completed either a County sponsored High Road Training Program, pre-apprenticeship, or apprenticeship program.
“Part of an equitable procurement process is not just diversifying who we, as a County, do business with, but also considering who benefits from our multi-billion-dollar spending,” said Supervisor Mitchell. “This motion increases the County’s ability to expand access to opportunity by ensuring residents in need of family-sustaining jobs in high-growth industries are reaping the community benefits from our largest contracts outside of construction.”
“Los Angeles County receives $6 billion worth of goods and services annually, providing significant opportunity to bridge our diverse local workforce with employment at these invaluable local businesses,” said Chair Lindsey P. Horvath. “Our workforce should benefit as the County meets our needs. This motion is a win for the County, our local economy, our businesses, and our workers.”
Over the last few years, the Board has passed motions to make the County’s contracting more accessible to small businesses. This motion will allow the County to expand on its efforts to connect large contracts to community benefits by asking for a process to include hiring goals from the community for contracts outside of construction in sectors like information technology, cybersecurity, social services, behavioral health, and more.
The motion directs the Internal Services Department (ISD), in collaboration with the Director of the Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO), to analyze the County’s top 10% largest contracts and report back in 90 days. Additionally, this motion directs the Director of the Department of Economic Opportunity and the Chief Executive Officer to provide data on individuals who have been trained and placed in high-road jobs over the last year and anticipated numbers of individuals who will be trained in 2024. The data from the report back will be used to create a centralized list of trained individuals for companies to source and hire qualified candidates.
To read the full motion, click here.
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