Minority Business Enterprise Initiative

The Maryland Port Administration’s (MPA) Office of Fair Practices (OFP) manages the MPA’s Minority, Disadvantaged and Small Business Initiative. One of the goals of this initiative is to maximize the participation of small and minority business enterprises on all MPA Contracts as appropriate.

Maryland’s MBE law requires agencies to structure their procurements to try to achieve an overall minimum of 25% of the total dollar value of their procurement contracts directly or indirectly from all certified Minority Business Enterprises. It further requires that agencies attempt to achieve a minimum of 7% of the total dollar value of their procurement contracts directly or indirectly from certified African-American-owned businesses, and 10% of the total dollar value of their procurement contracts directly or indirectly from certified women-owned businesses.

In furtherance of MPA’s MBE initiative, OFP staff, as members of the Procurement Review Group (PRG), regularly meet with MPA procuring departments to review and assess MPA procurements for supplies, services, maintenance, construction and architectural/engineering contracts to determine an MBE goal appropriate for each contract.
 

MBE Requirements on MPA Contracts Pre-Award
Effective October 1, 2004, bidders or offerors must comply with certain requirements that acknowledge the certified MBE participation goals set for a contract. On forms provided by the procurement agency, a bidder or offeror shall submit with its bid or proposal:

-          A completed Certified MBE Utilization and Fair Solicitation Affidavit (Attachment A) acknowledging the certified MBE overall and/or split participation goals and affirms that MBE subcontractors were treated fairly in the solicitation process and

-          A completed MBE Participation Schedule ((Attachment B) that responds to the expected degree of MBE participation as stated in the solicitation by identifying the bidder’s or offeror’s specific commitment of certified minority businesses.

If bidders or offerors make a good faith effort to achieve the MBE participation goal and conclude that they are unable to achieve it, they must submit Attachment A stating the amount of MBE participation they intend to achieve and requesting a waiver of the remainder of the goal, and Attachment B with their bids or proposals. 

If the bidder or offeror fails to submit these forms with the bid or offer as required, the Procurement Officer shall deem the bid non-responsive or shall determine that the offer is not reasonably susceptible of being selected for award.

Within ten (10) working days of receiving notice that it is the apparent awardee or from the date of actual award, whichever is earlier, the apparent low bidder must submit an Outreach Efforts Compliance Statement (Attachment C), and the Subcontractor Project Participation Statement (Attachment D) to the procuring unit per COMAR 21.11.03.10. (Waiver) If bidders or offerors have requested a waiver of the certified MBE participation goals on the contract, documentation of their good faith efforts per COMAR 21.11.03.11 must  be submitted to the procuring unit within this ten-day period.

If the apparent awardee fails to return each completed document within the required time, the Procurement Officer may determine that the apparent awardee is not responsible and, therefore, is not eligible for the contract award. If the contract has already been awarded, the award is voidable.

For detailed information on the MPA’s MBE Initiative, contact the MPA’s Office of Fair Practices at 2310 Broening Highway, Baltimore Maryland 21224 via fax (410) 631-1061 or click here to send email to MPA Office of Fair Practices.
 

MBE Requirements on MPA Contracts Post-Award

Monthly MBE Activity

During the life of the contract, successful vendors are required to submit a report of MBE activity and MBE payment documentation by the tenth of each month for the previous calendar month. These reports are to be submitted even in months when there was no MBE activity. Vendors are required by State Finance and Procurement Article §15-226 and COMAR 21.10. 08 to pay undisputed MBE payments within ten (10) days of receipt of progress or final payments by the State. Vendors are held accountable for prompt payments and are encouraged to pay MBE subcontractors as required.

The MBE Monthly Report should be mailed to MPA's Office of Fair Practices at 2310 Broening Highway, Baltimore Maryland 21224.

MBE Monthly Report
MBE Monthly Report Instructions

Monthly MBE Payment Verification 

Recent changes in State procurement law and policies have made it more apparent that the documentation of payments to subcontractors is a high priority. Payment verification has become a critical area of concern. Therefore, the Maryland Port Administration’s (MPA) efforts to track, monitor, and verify reported monies paid to MBE subcontractors have taken on a new energy. COMAR 21.10.08 sets forth the obligations of the prime contractor and subcontractors, and the remedies for delinquency or nonpayment of undisputed amounts on State contracts. Subcontractors are encouraged to communicate to the Office of Fair Practices, the MBE program administrators at MPA, any problems, concerns or late payments of undisputed amounts. 

The MBE Report of Payment Received form is due by the 5^th of each month that the contract is active, whether or not there has been subcontractor activity. MBE subcontractors are held accountable for timely reporting and are encouraged to provide verification of payment documentation as requested.

The MBE Report of Payment Received forms should be mailed to MPA's Office of Fair Practices at 2310 Broening Highway, Baltimore Maryland 21224.

MBE Report of Payments Received

MBE Subcontractor Alert