The Fayetteville Public Works Commission has seen success in efforts to hire small local businesses and connect with businesses operated by women and people who are racial or ethnic minorities, the commission staff told PWC board members on Wednesday.
The PWC’s Economic Inclusion Program has two specific tools to help the city-owned water, sewer and electric utility reach those businesses, said Candice Kirtz, the PWC’s utility’s supply chain director. These are its Minority, Women, and Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program and its Small Local Supplier Program.
The Minority, Women, and Disadvantaged Business Program started in July 2023. The program “is specifically designed to advocate and facilitate business growth and provide opportunities for historically underutilized businesses,” says a PWC brochure for it.
The Small Local Supplier Program started in July 2022 as an effort by the PWC to hire more small businesses in the Fayetteville Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is Cumberland, Hoke and Harnett counties, PWC documents say. A small business, as defined by the U.S. Small Business Administration, generally has 500 or fewer employees, but some have more. The definition varies based on the industry.
Although the Small Local Supplier Program is relatively new, the PWC has striven since 2015 to hire local businesses, PWC spokesman Tyler C. Patton said in an email to CityView.
According to the presentation made to the PWC board on Wednesday by Kirtz and Nikole Bohannon, the economic inclusion program manager:
- Over the past fiscal year, the PWC held 17 events to reach out to vendors. From these events, the PWC gained 62 vendors. Of those 62 vendors, 23 are classified as “historically underutilized businesses.” Those are businesses with majority ownership that is Black, Hispanic, Asian American or American Indian, female, socially and economically disadvantaged, or disabled, according to the state.
- In the 2022-23 fiscal year, the PWC spent $11.86 million with small, local businesses. In the first 11 months of fiscal 2023-24, the spend was $11.66 million. (The fiscal year will end on June 30).
Leaders ask PWC to hire veteran-owned businesses
Fayetteville City Councilman Derrick Thompson, who is the city council’s liaison to the PWC board, asked if the utility is reaching out to veteran-owned businesses.
“We have not done specific outreach for veterans, but that is something we can include in our program as we grow,” Kirtz said.
PWC Commissioner Ronna Rowe Garrett saw a trend in the data that troubled her. The presentation showed that local businesses (both small and large) in fiscal year 2024 have gotten a smaller share of the PWC’s spending than they did in fiscal 2023, she said.
The data indicates local vendors of all sizes in fiscal 2023 received $19.4 million of $258.7 million in spending (7.5%). In fiscal 2024, through May, the local spending was $19.9 million of $295.8 million (6.7%).
“Probably with specific veteran outreach, you could achieve those increased numbers,” Garrett said. “There’s a ton of small businesses — veteran-owned companies — around here that are always looking for business.
“But I want to leave on a positive note: You guys have made a significant impact, not just for PWC, but for the community. And I want you to be recognized for that,” Garrett said.
Senior reporter Paul Woolverton can be reached at 910-261-4710 and pwoolverton@cityviewnc.com.
This story was made possible by contributions to CityView News Fund, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization committed to an informed democracy.
