Does City Shop Benicia First?

In a difficult economic environment, Benicia business owners are always looking for new customers. Owners have to be savvy and persistent and know who to call. Business owners also rely on support from organizations like the and the City’s , as well as networks of colleagues, friends and customers. But sometimes even that isn’t enough. 

Officials at are working on tools that could help Benicia business owners do more business with the city of Benicia.

When the city started to consider developing a website, it looked at sites of similar commissions to see what they were doing. Based on that research, the commission chose a few sites it liked and contacted those web designers to invite them to bid on the project. It also let a few other designers know by word of mouth. 

“We sent out a request for proposal to about nine different consultants,” said Doug Vu, who staffs the commission.  The prospective consultants were selected based on their work.  Although, Vu indicated that some of the designers notified about the project by word of mouth were local, the request for proposal was not sent to the Benicia Chamber of Commerce.  Of the nine consultants contacted, only four submitted proposals before the deadline. Two were Benicia-based businesses.

According to officials, the city is in regular contact with the Chamber of Commerce, but there is no standard practice of alerting the chamber when contract and vending opportunities arise that chamber members may want to bid on.

“Sometimes, I get an email,” said Stephanie Christiansen, Chamber of Commerce president and chief executive officer.  But according to Christiansen, notices about such opportunities are on a case-by-case basis. “To my knowledge it’s not a standard practice,” she said about regular updates.

This is something that the city says it's working to change. “We’re working on trying to get a protocol for making sure local firms are notified,” said Charlie Knox, director of Public Works and Community Development. “There’s some obvious things I can do, like notifying the Chamber of Commerce and , (also) trying to put something on our website that will attract attention so that at least people will at least send us their information that we can keep on a list.” 

Vendor lists for everything from supplies to services are kept individually by city departments. “A lot of times local businesses will call within (a) department and say, ‘Hey, can I be on your list?’  It’s up to the business to make the city aware that they are out there,” said Mario Giuliani, acting Economic Development manager.  Giuliani also noted that the choice of which vendors and contractors receive city business “is primarily at the discretion of the people running the projects.”

The city does have a policy that encourages contracts with local businesses.  Currently, a purchasing policy allows a 10 percent advantage for Benicia businesses offering services.  The advantage allows contracts to go to Benicia businesses with bids up to 10 percent higher than those from outside the city. But the advantage cannot exceed $500. If a Benicia business has a bid that is $501 more than a non-Benicia business the advantage doesn’t apply.

Because consultants are hired based on expertise rather than the price of their service, this advantage does not apply to them.

According to Knox and Finance Director Rob Sousa, the city of Benicia is developing a web tool that could help more local business owners and consultants be considered for city contracts.

“We are developing a website to enhance our ability to have local vendors sign up on the web,” said Sousa. Discussions for the tool are at an early stage. City officials are working to determine who would be responsible for maintaining the data that vendors put in. 

“This issue of local purchasing and making sure local people are notified has really just come up in Council over the last couple of months…I think a lot of it has to do with the economy, Knox said.  "The Council is paying more attention to the fact that while the economy is coming back, it’s really important to make sure local businesses are supported."