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4.13

Business

Acquisition Rules Concerning Small and Disadvantaged Small

(a) General Acquisition Procedures. To aid Covered Companies in competing for Bank contracts, the Contract Representative will:

(1) Consider the needs of Covered Companies in formulating acquisition procedures, including but not limited to lengthened delivery schedules and time for submission of offers or bids and, consistent with Section 3.3 (c), dividing proposed acquisitions to permit offers in quantities less than the total requirement;

(2) in accordance with Section 4.2, send solicitations to all Covered Companies on the mailing list, or to a pro rata number of such companies when less than a complete list is used.

(1) All acquisitions of goods, services, and construction with an anticipated value of $10,000 or less will be set aside for Covered Companies unless, after consultation with the Small Company Specialist, the Contract Representative determines in writing, with regard to a particular acquisition or a class of acquisitions, that it is unlikely that the Bank will receive quotations from two or more responsible Covered Companies that will be reasonably competitive with quotations reasonably expected to be obtained from non-Covered Companies in terms of price, quality, delivery, or other factors. To further the Bank's policy of assisting Covered Companies, the Bank may periodically, at its discretion, set

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aside for Covered Companies an acquisition or class of acquisitions with an anticipated value over $10,000.

(2) If such a set-aside results in the receipt of a reasonable quotation from only one responsible Covered Company, the Contract Representative will make an award to that company. However, if a reasonable quotation is not received from a Covered Company, the Contract Representative may cancel the set-aside and acquire the goods and services from a non-Covered Company.

(3) If comparable quotations are received from a Covered Company eligible for the Section 8(a) program of the Small Business Act and another Covered Company, preference will be given to the company eligible under Section 8(a).

(1) In the case of all acquisitions except contracts for services that are personal in nature, where a responsible Covered Company submits a responsive bid, quotation or proposal, the Contract Representative will select such a bid, quotation or proposal, provided (a) the bid, quotation or proposal would be selected under ordinary Bank acquisition procedures, or (b) its price (See 3 below), quality and other features are comparable to the bid, quotation or proposal that would otherwise be selected.

(2) In the case of all acquisitions except contracts for services that are personal in nature, if more than one responsible Covered Company submits a responsive bid, quotation or proposal, and the price, quality and other features of each bid, quotation or proposal are determined to be comparable, preference should be given to a Covered Company which is eligible for the 8(a) program of the Small

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(3) A bid, quotation or proposal need not be deemed to be comparable if (a) for [all] acquisitions up to $500,000 the price is more than 3 percent above the price of the lowest responsive bid, quotation or proposal, (or more than 1 percent higher for acquisitions $500,000 or above;] (b) for acquisitions over $500,000, the price is more than the sum of $15,000 plus 1 percent of the amount over $500,000 above the lowest bid, quotation or proposal; or (c) the quality, maintenance or other factors evaluated, as set forth in the IFB, RFP, or RFQ are unsatisfactory.

(4) In the case of acquisitions above $10,000, except contracts for services that are personal in nature, the Contract Representative will include a provision in each solicitation stating that a factor that will be considered in awarding the contract is the Bank's policy of assisting Covered Companies, and any resulting contract that contemplates the use of Subcontractors will contain a provision substantially similar in effect to the provision stated in Appendix D.

4.14

Subcontracting with Small and Disadvantaged Small Business

(a) Each IFB or RFP which has subcontracting possibilities and which is expected to exceed $500,000 ($1,000,000 for construction) will specify as an evaluation criteria the submission of a subcontracting plan including (1) plans for using Covered Companies, and (2) procedures for documenting compliance with the plan.

(b) In determining whether subcontracting possibilities exist, the Contract Representative may consider whether firms engaged in the business of

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contract for performance of part of the work or maintain in-house capability, as well as a potential Contractor's longstanding relationship with its suppliers. Determinations that no subcontracting possibilities exist will be documented.

(c) Subcontracting plans are not required from Covered Companies or

for contracts for services that are personal in nature.

4.15

Business

Planning and Reporting on Small and Disadvantaged Small

(a) Annual Review and Statement.

(1) At least annually, the Small Company Specialist will consult with Bank management concerning the Bank's acquisition record with Covered Companies, possible categories of acquisitions above $10,000 to be wholly or partially set aside for Covered Companies and ways of increasing Covered Company participation.

(2) Each year, the Small Company Specialist will document the proportional and dollar amount of the Bank's acquisitions let to Covered Companies and its plans for the following year.

(b) Report to the Board of Governors. The Bank will submit a report to the Board of Governors each year. This report will set forth (1) total contract dollars attributed to Covered Company purchases, and (2) the proportion of contract dollars let to Covered Companies. The report will discuss what specific product of service categories have been most accessible to Covered Companies, the experience of Covered Companies in obtaining awards through subcontracting and

FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF CLEVELAND

MINORITY AND HOMEN CERTIFICATION PROCESS

The Bank has a self-certification process to classify small businesses and socially and economically disadvantaged small businesses. We currently accept similar self-certifications filed with other Federal Reserve Bank offices and certifications made by the Small Business Administration.