SBCCD Board Approves Local Hire Policy

The Board of Trustees of the San Bernardino Community College District (SBCCD) unanimously approved new Policy number BP 6610, which will create opportunities for local hires and local business participation on district capital improvement and construction projects. The policy, adopted on Nov. 14, articulates the Board’s commitment to the use of local contractors, subcontractors and businesses that has been enacted over the past two years. The new policy’s goals will be further enforced by the Construction Training Collaborative recently undertaken by the SBCCD and other community partners. “Between July 2013, when the Board directed that local participation in construction be increased, and September 2013, the latest date for which data is available, the current local workforce analysis on our five active Measure M Bond Program projects indicates that we have used 71 percent of the local workforce, which documents our commitment to keeping our resources here in the Inland Empire,” said San Bernardino Community College District (SBCCD) Chancellor Bruce Baron. Chancellor Baron noted that these results do not come easily. “In order to achieve acceptable numbers, we have to take extensive outreach steps. For instance, for the Science Building at San Bernardino Valley College, a $16.8 million project, the construction management company had to invite 239 general contractors, 138 of which were local, to end up with 9 total bidders, of which 3 were local. The search for subcontractors was similar – 1,776 were invited to participate, of which 771 were local. 122 subcontractors participated in the process, of which 48 were local. The 2,015 total phone calls resulted in 55 percent local hires, with 11 local firms out of 20 subcontractors on this specific project.” BP 6610 sets Board goals of 50 percent participation of local hires and 25 percent participation of local businesses in district bid projects. The goals are reflective of the demographics of the community, and the Board clarified that it is their intent to not only meet the goals but to exceed them. The policy defines “local” as individuals or businesses that reside or have their principal headquarters or a permanently staffed regional office in the Inland Empire. Bid documents will include language that advises all bidders of the District's strong preference that contractors hire local residents and that they participate in apprenticeship programs to ensure the development of a competently trained local workforce. Contractors must document their efforts to comply with the policy, which requires a good-faith, verified effort. The goal will be evaluated based on an entire fiscal year assessment, in accordance with regulations to be developed. As an alternative, the bidder may certify that it intends to perform 95 percent of the work with its own employees. The Board of Trustees will be kept informed on the success of the policy through quarterly reports. In addition to the policy which was adopted, a formal presentation was made to the Board on a new Construction Training Collaborative (CTC), which was formed at the direction of Chancellor Baron and is being led by the Economic Development and Corporate Training Division (EDCT) of the SBCCD. The membership of the CTC includes district staff, three Trustees, and representatives of the San Bernardino Employment Training Agency, the County and City Workforce Investment Boards and Kitchell/BRj, the construction management firm involved in the Measure M Bond Program. The CTC’s goal is to prepare the workforce needed for the recovering construction industry in the Inland Empire and the many upcoming public projects. The local hiring policy helps to ensure that job opportunities will be available for those trained through the CTC, including pre-apprenticeship training to be offered through the EDCT. The CTC was created to help agencies promote scheduled projects in order to ensure that the needed resources are available locally to provide maximum benefit to the community. Those resources include the availability of bonding, low-cost insurance, and a trained local workforce. Among the projects currently being undertaken by the CTC are: • Recommend local hiring policy adoption to drive demand for a trained local workforce • Educate local contractors and project owners on the benefits of local hiring policies, available bonding options, low-cost insurance and an available trained local workforce • Promote industry-standard training to supply *THERE IS NO END TO THIS SENTENCE.