Report 2018-114 Recommendation 5 Responses

Report 2018-114: Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise Program: The Departments of General Services and Veterans Affairs Have Failed to Maximize Participation and to Accurately Measure Program Success (Release Date: February 2019)

Recommendation #5 To: General Services, Department of

To ensure that awarding departments can effectively identify DVBE firms that provide needed products and services, General Services should continue to provide outreach services to DVBE firms on how to create effective keywords and choose appropriate codes.

6-Month Agency Response

Using the Statewide SB/DVBE Procurement Data Dashboard, Outreach randomly selected 50 DVBE firms that have won a state contract and analyzed their Certification profiles to collect data on what UNSPSC and keywords these firms included in their profile. Outreach then randomly selected 50 DVBE firms that had not yet been awarded a state contract and similarly analyzed the UNSPSC and keywords on their profiles.

In addition, Outreach sent all department advocates a survey in May 2019 asking for feedback on their department's best practices for utilizing UNSPSC and keywords when searching for DVBE firms. The survey also requested that departments give feedback on common mistakes DVBE firms make when completing their certification profiles, so that Outreach can better assist state departments in contracting with a variety of qualified DVBE firms. As of July 2019, 85 advocate survey responses have been collected by Outreach. Outreach also held discussions at the quarterly advocate meetings in April 2019 and June 2019 regarding UNSPSC and keyword best practices to further collect information from advocates.

Outreach utilized the independent research of DVBE certification profiles, survey results from the advocate surveys, and results of the discussions at the quarterly advocate meetings to update best practices for using UNSPSC and keywords. From those best practices, Outreach completed the following:

- New training slides on UNSPSC and keywords to be used in workshops.

- Updated web resource material and created a handout for DVBEs regarding UNSPSC and keyword best practices.

- Created a new section highlighting UNSPSC and keywords in the updated "How to Do Business with the State" brochure.

Outreach will continue to provide guidance to DVBE firms on UNSPSC and keyword best practices to better ensure awarding departments find certified DVBE firms who provide needed goods and services.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: Fully Implemented

60-Day Agency Response

DGS' Office of Small Business and DVBE Services (OSDS) is currently providing information to DVBE firms about how to choose keywords and appropriate codes at Outreach Workshops and in the included materials that are disseminated at the outreach events and as web resources. Other state advocates are also doing the same.

By July 1, 2019, OSDS will do an analysis of a sample of currently certified DVBE certification profiles to identify common errors made in selecting keywords and UNSPSC codes. Using the information gathered, OSDS will incorporate an updated section of the Outreach Workshop presentation about selecting the most effective keywords and codes in order to ensure that awarding departments can effectively identify DVBE firms that provide needed products and services. The information from the presentation will also be made available as a web resource. The updated keyword and UNSPSC code training slides and web resource materials will be available by January 1, 2020.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: Pending

All Recommendations in 2018-114

Agency responses received are posted verbatim.