The Coastal Community Social Procurement Initiative has been an insightful journey for all of us involved in this movement. Throughout 2019, CCSPI hosted 9 webinars, 5 info sessions for local business and social enterprises, 6 Social Procurement 101 workshops and 5 Social Procurement 201 workshops. We cumulated the year with 21 local government members, and 170+ individual members! Read the year in the review here.
Port Hardy: Test Driving Our Community Values
“At the beginning, we thought social procurement was about ‘what are they going to gift us?’- that they would leave us a clock or something, but it isn’t about that. It is about being inclusive, about the environment, and about the community, workforce and local economy’.” - Allison McCarrick, CAO
Port Hardy is the first in CCSPI’s ‘Telling Local Stories’ mini case studies. Read more about Port Hardy’s experience and lessons learned in piloting their social procurement outcomes in a recent RFP for Professional Management Services for their Arena Project.
Upcoming Webinars-- Register Now
Community Employment Benefits- a Local Example.
Scott Hainsworth from Comox Regional Valley District will share their recent experience in integrating Community Employment Benefits into an infrastructure RFP. David LePage, Buy Social, will augment Scott’s experience with other examples and general best practices.
SP 301: Social Procurement Implementation for Projects Under $250K
SP 301 builds on previous 101 & 201 training. This full-day session will explore and focus on goods and services, direct awards and construction under $250K.
methodologies for achieving local objectives through social procurement (RFx, project objectives, bid criteria and evaluation processes, project monitoring and evaluation, RACi)
spending threshold and unbundling projects
Identify, engage and mobilize social value supply chains
key capacities for internal (staff) and external (consultants) resources
CCSPI recommends that all members take advantage of consultation and RFP review services, especially prior to launching an initial social procurement RFx- this is an important step in ensuring that we grow social procurement best practices together, across the region.
Contact Teri Ejere to schedule consultation and review services.
Resource- Consultant Criteria to Support Social Procurement
Social Procurement is not ‘business as usual’. As local governments implement social and community value requirements into their procurement practices, often they access the assistance of consultants to develop policies and translate this into RFx processes. Unfortunately, if a consultant is not knowledgeable in social procurement, the community benefit has the potential to be watered down, or presented in a way that can increase liability or frustrate suppliers and contractors.
This Briefing Noteoutlines what to look for in hiring a consultant and helps make sure your social procurement goals are realized.
Measuring Impact
CCSPI is developing tools and overarching template to measure the impact of social procurement in our region. There are different ways to evaluate and measure impact-- by embedding key performance indicators into RFx process as part of the bid process as well as outcomes measurement connected to projects. And there is also the opportunity to measure the impact of social procurement across the region, connected to overarching Sustainable Development Goals.
If this is of interest, contact Kristi to join the Impact Measurement Working Group.
The Challenge of Engaging Suppliers
Many CCSPI members are looking for local social enterprises and businesses that can meet social procurement objectives- these businesses are not always highly visible or used to public sector bidding processes. The most recent webinar, Good Practices Amplified and Verified, identified how 3rd party certifications can assist in identifying aligned businesses. CCSPI has also launched a working group to identify ways to increase such connections. If you have ideas or would like to participate in the working group, contact Kristi at kfmader@scalecollaborative.ca
Podcast- Social Procurement, A Game Changer for Cities - by David LePage
In this podcast conversation, David shares how ‘the light went on’ around social procurement, the winding road to overcoming hurdles, and the sure-footed steps that can be taken along the road to success. He also shares stories of how purchasers enjoy exercising new-found capacity to make a difference in their community through the great work they do every day. Calgary and Edmonton are leading the way. In British Columbia 21 municipalities are working together with social procurement as a strategy for rural economic development. David has noticed that women in leadership, some of whom are mayors and purchasers, are appearing at the leading edge of the social procurement movement.
In the September 2019 newsletter, we shared a process document to help navigate towards social procurement implementation. We believe everyone is currently past step 3, review the process and see how far you have gone.
Library of Resources
There are tons of valuable resources, tools and templates, plus folders for each member community that have a social procurement or purchasing policy, and related RFx developed throughout the training so far. You can access these resources through the member portal.
How to get to the Sync drive through the website.
Log on to the website as a member
Click on the "Member Area" tab, it will take you to the Member Home Page.
Scroll down to "Resources and Examples" and click. This will take you directly to the Sync Drive.
Contact Teri if you are having trouble accessing the drive-- it is a wealth of information!
