On September 28, 2017, the City Council approved the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) portion of the Savannah Business Opportunity (SBO) program, a two-year pilot program aimed at increasing opportunities for local small and disadvantaged businesses. This initiative establishes a cumulative annual participation goal to increase subcontracting opportunities for DBEs certified at the state and federal level. To align the City’s program with Department of Transportation (DOT) guidelines, staff has reviewed the following data sources recommended by DOT in 49 C.F.R. §26.45:

• GDOT Contractor Directory
• GDOT UCP Directory
• City of Savannah M/WBE and DBE participation data
• DOT national DBE goal of 10%
• City of Savannah 2016 Disparity Study

Based on availability and participation data from the sources identified by DOT, staff recommends that a 20% cumulative annual DBE participation goal be established for the total dollar value of all eligible City of Savannah contracts, excluding federal and sole-source contracts. The goal constitutes a significant increase over DOT’s national goal (10%) and M/WBE participation for the years prior to the new pilot program (approximately 16% average for 2015-2017) while remaining defensible to potential challenges. The City successfully exceeded last year’s goal of 18%, adopted February 14, 2018, by securing 29% participation (approximately $20.4 million) from DBE subcontractors and primes.

If the goal is approved, staff will provide a six-month progress report later this year detailing current participation levels and future projections.