Negocios Now

www.negociosnow.com Octubre 2019 17 NegociosNow NegociosNow "One of the best things that businesses can do is to consider us a place to do business" Interview with Shannon E. Andrews, chief procure- ment officer of the City of Chicago, NN: What is the best experience you can share with us after one year on the job? One of the most exciting changes, I think, is the inaugu- ration of Mayor Lori Lightfoot. It's been super exciting being a part of that transition. She has a real commitment to improv- ing transparency and increas- ing opportunities for minority and women business owners. I think that in addition to being a part of her team, some of my best experiences have included partnering with agencies and organizations and publications that are committed to ensuring that minority business owners have opportunities. NN: Are you excited about the City's future?? Absolutely — I think the city is really lucky because Mayor Lightfoot has a unique back- ground and understanding and appreciation of the city's MWDBE program. She has spoken many times about the fact that she used to be in a senior leadership role here at the Department of Procurement Services. Her passion for the program is invaluable. NN: You were in charge of the Cook County Department of Procurement, and how does having held that position help you now? One of the things that is unique about Chicago is that we really are a very large small town. Oftentimes the business- es we used on the county-side are also businesses that can perform those same services here at the city. One of the things I am most proud of is having worked both here and at Cook County to ensure there was a reciprocal certification program. For many years we heard about the complications of having to go through a cer- tification process for the City and for Cook County, and I am really proud of the work we did to ensure that the business community is not burdened with unnecessary processes and fees. NN: How is your department working to open the doors for opportunities in the city? The Department of Pro- curement Services has a very strong foundation of tools and resources to assist minority and women business owners. We have roughly 23 bid incen- tives and programs in place that were designed with the purpose of outlining a path for small minority- and woman- owned businesses to be suc- cessful with government con- tracting. We partnered with organizations to ensure that some of our Assist Agencies — like HACIA, the Illinois His- panic Chamber of Commerce and many others — are help- ing us identify firms and align them with opportunities. NN: Could you mention a specific project in which minorities are participating? One of the things that we are super proud of is our Small Business Initiative and our Mid-Sized Business Initiative. We had been working with our Infrastructure Depart- ments — which include the Chicago Department of Trans- portation, the Department of Water Management as well as our friends at the Department of Aviation — to make proj- ects smaller so that small and minor ity-owned business- es can be successful in that space. We recently released our buying plan, which takes us through the fourth quarter of 2020, and in that plan we identified no less than a dozen opportunities earmarked for small minority- and wom- en-owned companies. The Department of Aviation has $8.2 billion to improve and expand Chicago O'Hare Inter- national Airport, and we are partnering with them to iden- tify opportunities. In addition, we have created a new "First Look" workshop series with our with our infrastructure departments that gives busi- ness first-hand access to sub- ject matter experts and details about upcoming projects. NN: What advice do you have for minority firms that look for opportunities in the city? There are a number of things that businesses can do. We offer a number of free work- shops here at City Hall as well as throughout the community We give workshops on every- thing from how to get certi- fied to how to use our web- site to how to respond to a request for proposals. We walk people through best practic- es. I also encourage people to take advantage of resources to inform them about opportuni- ties. Certainly we partner with publications such as yours (Negocios Now), but as well they should avail themselves of partnerships we have with our Assist Agencies. One of the best things that businesses can do is to consider us a place to do business. But once you've con- sidered us, be in contact. Visit our website, come to our work- shops, call us. We are more than happy to set up meetings to visit with individual compa- nies and help carve out a plan that works for them. "W e had been working with our Infrastructure Department — which includes the Chicago Department of Transportation, the Department of Water Management as well as our friends at the Department of Aviation — to make projects smaller so that small and minority-owned businesses can be successful in that space." DPS By the Numbers n City User Departments Served 30 n Programs to Encourage Use of Local Small Businesses 23 n Government Agencies Represented in the Buying Plan 13 n Opportunities in the 3Q2019 Buying Plan 800+ n Free classes 83 n Assist Agencies 49

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