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Annals of the Smithsonian Institution 2000 



of sexual harassment in the workplace this fiscal year. EEO- 

 updated training was provided to EEO counselors and 

 officers. In addition, OEEMA continued to promote EEO 

 objectives and Smithsonian programs and activities at all 

 New Employee Orientations. 



Fostering and strengthening a culture of diversity and in- 

 clusion within the Smithsonian, the office spearheaded the 

 presentation of equal opportunity awards during the Secre- 

 tary's Day of Excellence Awards Program. Three outstanding 

 employees were recognized for their achievements in pro- 

 moting equal opportunity in employment, diversity in 

 programs and activities, and diversity in procurement and 

 contracting. Pictutes of the recipients and narratives of their 

 accomplishments are prominently displayed on the SI 

 PRISM Intra- Web. 



In addition to guidance/assistance and outreach efforts 

 provided in the aforementioned initiatives, OEEMA pub- 

 lished the biannual newsletter, "OPPORTUNITIES," which 

 was disttibuted Smithsonian-wide and made available to 

 outside organizations via OEEMAs Web site. Additionally, 

 advertisements extolling the Smithsonian as a model em- 

 ployer in minority newspapers and publications remained a 

 continuing focus. 



Supplier Diversity Program 



OEEMAs program, initially called the Small and Disadvan- 

 taged Business Utilization Program, retained the same goals 

 but underwent a name change to the Supplier Diversity (SD) 

 Program to reflect its comprehensive narure and intent. As 

 the Smithsonian focal point for advocacy of diversity in all 

 its contractual and procurement efforts, this office worked in 

 close collaboration with the Office of Contracting (OCon) 

 and Office of Physical Plant (OPP) as principal partners, as 

 well as with other units with procurement authority seeking 

 to diversify their source of suppliers. Together with OCon 

 and the Small Business Administration (SBA), OEEMA es- 

 tablished and approved FY 2000 procurement goals and 

 reported on Si's FY 1999 contracting achievements. The 

 achievement report showed that, for the second year in a row, 

 SI met and exceeded all four of its federal small business 

 goals. Specifically, percentage contract dollars awarded to 

 small businesses were 50 percent, with a goal of 45 percent; 

 8(a) firms were awarded 1 1.6 percent, with a goal of 10.5 

 percent; minority businesses received 6 percent, with a goal 

 of 5 percent, and women-owned businesses received 8 per- 

 cent, with a goal of 6 percent. 



In the subcontracting area, the office aggressively imple- 

 mented the requirements that prime contractors submit 

 detailed and challenging subcontracting plans. Consultations 

 and revisions resulted in increases in subcontracting goals. 



OEEMA led the coordination to approve a three-year ex- 

 tension of the key memorandum of understanding (MOU) 

 between the Smithsonian Institution and the Small Business 

 Administration. The MOU delegates direct authoriry to SI 

 to award 8(a) contracts, resulting in a reduction of process- 

 ing time from two months to about two weeks. Increased 

 emphasis on the use of 8(a) firms was an inregral part of this 



year's Supplier Diversity training, and included relevant SI 

 policies and procedures for using 8(a) firms. 



In conjunction with the Office of Physical Plant, the unit 

 that generates approximately 70 percent of Sis total annual 

 contractual expenditures (primarily in the area of construc- 

 tion), OEEMA made 18 site visits to local suppliers, 

 including exhibits design and fabrication, information tech- 

 nology, construction, and relocation and fulfillment services 

 firms. This fiscal year three new 8(a) open-term contracts 

 were awarded. As part of the Supplier Diversity initiative, 

 OPP was persuaded to expand its use of 8(a) construction 

 contractors at SI facilities in Florida and Panama. 



The office continued to work with OPP to augment its 8(a) 

 portfolio of construction contractors and with other units. 



As the key advocate for small, minority, and women- 

 owned businesses, OEEMA participated in OCon's training 

 programs and on-site assessments of a number of diverse 

 suppliers. Training was provided for more than 200 procure- 

 ment officials, and 32 meetings were conducted with 

 representatives from small and minority-owned businesses. 



Assistance was provided to a host of SI offices to identify 

 contractors for major requirements. OEEMAs efforts in this 

 regard led directly to the awarding of at least 18 separate 

 contracts, totaling approximately $4 million. Using 

 OEEMAs database and external databases, 27 vendors 

 searches were conducted for 15 units seeking qualified small, 

 minority, or women-owned businesses. In at least 18 of the 

 cases, vendors recommended were subsequenrly awarded SI 

 contracts. 



Again, most of the vendors came from searches in Si's 

 Supplier Diversity database. OEEMA responded to more 

 than 350 electronic mails requesting information via this 

 system. The database was updated throughout the yeat and 

 registered 180 new firms on-line. The SD database now 

 hosts 400 firms and was accessed more than 600 times over 

 the past year alone by SI staff looking to do business with 

 diverse suppliers. 



As part of its outreach initiative, OEEMA participated as 

 a key member of the Office of Small and Disadvantaged 

 Business Utilization Directors Inter-Agency Council and as 

 the chair of the SBA Working Group. This office also partic- 

 ipated in a number of procurement fairs and conferences that 

 promoted the Smithsonian as a prominent supplier diversity 

 advocate. The more prominent ones which OEEMA repre- 

 sentatives attended and at which they made presenrations 

 and/or hosted a booth included the Small Business-sponsored 

 MED- Week activities, the Eleanor Holmes Norton Procure- 

 ment Fair, the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Conference, 

 and the National Black Chamber of Commerce Conference. 

 Among the various procurement fairs sponsored by this of- 

 fice in fiscal year 2000, the most noteworthy was the joint 

 venture between OEEMA and the National Museum of 

 American History. This procurement fair hosted vendors 

 from the National Industries for the Blind, who participated 

 in the Javit- Wagner O'Day (JWOD) program. The effort 

 was significant in its own right, serving to satisfy an Execu- 

 rive Order of the President that encouraged the use of 

 businesses run by disabled but capable workers. 



