Small Business First Update!
Policy Refresh:
The UC Small Business First Policy requires purchases of goods and/or services between $10,000 - $250,000 annually (that are not otherwise exempt or cannot be procured via existing competitively bid or strategically sourced agreements), to be made with certified Small (SB) or Disabled Veteran Business Enterprises (DVBE).
For purchases or VB’s between $10,000 - $100,000 - one (1) quote must be obtained from either a certified SB or DVBE.
For purchases or VB’s between $100,000 - $250,000 - at least two (2) quotes must be obtained from certified SBs or DVBEs.
Implementation Update:
As of January 2022, UCSB has taken the following steps to implement this policy:
- Added a SB First Gateway workflow step for all orders between $10,000 and $250,000.
- Added two SB First requisition custom fields.
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Identified the first wave of departments to begin full implementation of the SB First policy. Those departments will select the appropriate SB First dropdown field, and will need to provide a Waiver Justification for all purchases that are not Exempt or through a certified SB/DVBE.
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New Addition to the Team
Paulina Heather joins the procurement team as a contract analyst! Paulina was born in Las Vegas and grew up on an avocado ranch in the foothills of Santa Barbara. She attended UCSB and has worked here for 24 years. She has 1 husband, 2 sons, and 3 dogs. They spend a lot of time at Lake Nacimiento boating as soon as it gets above 90 degrees. They go to Disneyland for birthdays, Las Vegas to visit relatives, and, most recently, kayaking and paddle boarding in the Harbor. And if they aren't doing any of those things they are probably working in their backyard, where Paulina recently learned to stain teak and seal concrete. Just another day in Paradise!
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New Gateway Punch-Out
We have a new Gateway punch-out catalog with Office Furniture awardee Herman Miller. The dealer is Tri County Office Furniture,
a veteran-owned small business here in Santa Barbara.
Join us for an introduction to the site with Herman Miller and Tri County staff on Thursday, January 27th at 1:30pm via Zoom.
Register on the Herman Miller punch-out under New Catalogs to enable quotes to be uploaded to you. Please click to see the guide.
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Annual Physical Inventories
The annual Physical Inventory of departmental equipment records was sent out on January 20, 2022, to departments with custody codes 0000-4000. These reports were sent to Department Equipment Custodians, as designated in the GMC. Physical Inventory Reports are due June 30, 2022.
Please check to ensure you received this request and send any questions to am@bfs.ucsb.edu
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Theft-Sensitive Items
Keeping track of theft-sensitive items, whether located on campus or in our home offices, continues to be an important responsibility of department administrators. Non-inventorial items such as laptops, cell phones, cameras, tools, cash, gift cards, event tickets, stamps, and COVID related PPE like antigen tests and masks can be easy targets for bad actors in our workspace and easily overlooked when not tracked and periodically inspected for losses.
If any UCSB assets cannot be accounted for immediately contact your Business Officer, UCSB Police, and Risk Management to report the loss.
Each department should:
- Identify theft-sensitive non-inventorial items to track
- Establish internal controls and procedures
- Conduct an inventory of theft-sensitive items annually
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FlexCard News
The FlexCard is a great tool for the campus; if your vendor is not in Gateway and you don't have a lot of time to get them added, use the FlexCard! The FlexCard increases the speed of payment for merchants and reduces the need for petty cash and/or employee reimbursement.
Covered Services are now restricted, and cannot be procured on the Flexcard. A Covered Service in this context includes food services, grounds keeping, custodial, laundry, building maintenance, transportation services, and security. These services were described in a previous newsletter, and need to be paid for by using existing UC employees.
Contact us at flexcard@bfs.ucsb.edu for specific guidance.
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Small Business Supplier Search
Don’t forget that UCSB’s Small and Diverse Business Program website includes tips for finding certified small or disabled veteran business enterprises. We recommend the UC-contracted Supplier Diversity database, Supplier.io Explorer, as this tool sources small and diverse business certifications from hundreds of organizations, including SAM and the State of California, and maintains an active database of small and diverse suppliers used by UC campuses. A Mini Tune Up training session on how to request access and utilize the Supplier.io tool is available for viewing.
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Systemwide Vendor Agreements
Wondering if the UC has a contract with a particular vendor? Bookmark this page:
This site provides links by category for currently contracted supplier agreements that have been competitively bid!
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How to Expedite Service in Procurement |
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You will achieve the fastest response time for questions about requisitions, bids, invoices, contracts and general procurement questions. Instead of emailing an individual, please use the new Procurement ServiceNow Catalog:
https://ucsb.service-now.com/procurement
Please use the Comment tab on a Gateway requisition to get in touch with your assigned
Buyer or Contract Analyst to view status, and document your department decisions.
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