District works to increase number of small business vendors

By MEGHAN BRADBURY news@breezenewspapers com

The School District of Lee County is working to increase small business participation in district contracts

The Small Business Enterprise Policy was adopted at the end of 2021 to create the Small Business Enterprise Program Business Services Executive Director Susan Malay said the program was established to increase competition with local small business on major construction contracts; create jobs and foster economic growth

A partnership was established with Florida Gulf Coast University to set the thresholds to define small, establish a certification process and share standards and gather feedback The district worked with the

Regional Economic Research Institute to establish a threshold for the number of employees in a small business and the Small Business Development Center to establish a threshold in the annual revenue of a small business

Malay said with a threshold of 20 employees as the size factor of measuring small businesses, they would hit 93 percent of the businesses in Lee County that are under 20 employees

As far as the revenue threshold, the cap for measuring small business revenue would be $10 million for the most recent three years with recertification every three years

A small business would also have to be in business for at least two years

"Our partners at FGCU have agreed to administer the certification process They are currently doing this assisting by looking at books, taxes and looking at business plans," she said "Part of our registration process of vendors closely aligns with FGCU " Board member Jada Langford-Fleming shared concerns about constraining a small business to 20 employees, especially in the past year with many businesses hiring more people to get the work done post hurricane

Fraud: Lee Clerk’s Office to implement

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Karnes said the bill that was passed creates a quicker avenue in the court system to get your property back

“It’s very rare for an idea like this to come to fruition in the first time presented to the legislature I am excited to be the first in the state to see if it works,” he said

This program authorizes the Lee County Clerk to pilot-test the program for two years

After two years, he will present a formal recommendation to legislators whether the program could then be expanded to all 67 clerks in Florida

Lee County is the first in the state to launch the pilot program He said the law gives them the ability to accept governmentissued IDs to anyone who records a deed at the Lee County Clerk’s office before the deed

Is Processed

“We can turn over that information to law enforcement and do a better investigation,” Karnes said “It gives law enforcement a starting point ”

With an ID, it provides a photograph of all parties on the deed with an address and name, which he said will allow law enforcement to follow the “breadcrumbs” better Previously, the Clerk’s office was required to accept and record a document if it met statutory requirements, which did not include any sort of identification

It is considered property fraud when someone illegally records fraudulent documents with forged signatures to make it appear as if they are the legal owners of a property Both vacant lots and homes are susceptible Once a thief claims ownership, they illegally rent, or sell the property to an

"I support this small business ideal It was the backbone of what our country was built on," she said

Board member Melisa Giovannelli agreed that the Small Business Enterprise Program is going to be a healthy opportunity and healthy competition

"I am hoping more local," she said about the businesses "I am all about feeding our local economy "

The district will continue community engagement regarding the program, as well as continue partnership with FGCU for the vendor certification process In addition, the next steps include identifying and soliciting prime contracts for small business bidding and establishing mandatory small business subcontracting goals for certain large projects