1. Home
  2. Purchasing Policies Manual
  3. 4.0 Supplier Selection and Solicitations
  4. 4.3 Small Business Utilization Program

4.3 Small Business Utilization Program

Page last updated

Policy Information

Policy Number: 4.3 Effective Date: July 1996
Responsible Unit: Financial Services - Purchasing Last Revised Date: April 2021
Phone: 520-621-1747 Email: FNSV-Purchasing@arizona.edu

Purpose and Summary

To describe the purpose and policies surrounding the Small Business Utilization Program.

As part of the effort to increase the amount of business the University of Arizona does with small businesses, to comply with specific federal small business utilization goals as directed by the Federal Acquisition Regulations, and to comply with Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR) University Procurement Code, awards shall be made in accordance with the policies and procedures detailed below.

Source

Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR) Policy, including but not limited to 3-803 Source Selection and Contract Formation and 3-810 Small Business Procurement Program
Code of Federal Regulations 48 C.F.R. § 52.219-9 Small Business Subcontracting Plan

Scope

This policy applies to all University locations and units, including all University extensions, satellite locations, and off-site campus units, both domestic and international.

Definitions

  1. Small Business: A for-profit or not-for-profit organization, including its affiliates, which either employs fewer than one hundred (100) full-time employees or which had gross annual receipts of less than four million dollars ($4,000,000) in its last fiscal year.

Policy

  1. All purchasing transactions exceeding an aggregate dollar amount of $100,000 must be awarded on the basis of sealed competitive request for proposals (RFP) or bids (RFB). The University will make a good faith effort to include Arizona Small Businesses in at least 50% of those businesses solicited.
  2. Any procurement with an aggregate cost not exceeding $100,000 shall be awarded to a Small Business, if practicable, in accordance with the University of Arizona procurement policies and procedures contained herein.
  3. Any product or service identified as and obtained under Federal Subcontracting plans which does not exceed an aggregate dollar amount of $100,000, shall be awarded to small businesses where possible to contribute towards the achievement of the established goals as set forth in the submitted subcontracting plan. Such awards will be made in accordance with procedures promulgated by the University's Chief Procurement Officer on the basis of the most responsive and responsible bid or proposal. Where this is not practical, documentation will be required explaining why such utilization is impractical, so as to demonstrate our "good faith" efforts in support of the submitted subcontracting plan.
  4. Multiple awards, at the discretion of the Buyer or purchasing unit, may be made for any major University procurement where more than one source of goods and services exists and such practice will not result in a degradation of the product, service or price supplied to the University. Such awards will allow small businesses to compete effectively on specific portions of major University procurements and is an appropriate mechanism to increase business activity between the University and small businesses.
  5. Any procurements made from large distribution vendors who are able to document that products were acquired from a small business, shall be considered as acquired from that small business in the fulfillment of the University's Small Business Utilization Program goals. A report reflecting the sales volume from small businesses will be requested on a monthly or quarterly basis and applied to the small business goals.
  6. Financial Services Purchasing, in collaboration with Planning Design & Construction, require all design consultants and general contractors to report subcontract, material and equipment purchases from small business concerns for project contracts in excess of $100,000. Through this collaborative effort the general contractor would utilize these business concerns on a "best effort" basis for their subcontracting and vendor activity. A Design Consultant or General Contractor Subcontracting Report is required prior to receiving final payment.
  7. Public Law 95-507 requires the University of Arizona to comply with reporting requirements for all research grants exceeding $750,000 received from the United States Government. Procedurally, this compliance is accomplished through the submission of a Small Business Subcontracting Plan, specific to the research award, which establishes separate expenditure goals for the procurement of goods and services made by the University from both small and small disadvantaged business concerns. In order to monitor the efforts made and the success towards achieving the established subcontracting goals, the University is required to complete and submit, on a semi-annual basis, Small Business Subcontract award data. That data is now transmitted through the electronic Subcontracting Reporting System (eSRS). The eSRS eliminates the need for paper submissions that were formerly called “SF 294’s – Individual Subcontracting Reports and SF 295’s – Summary Subcontracting Reports.

Procedures

  1. Any purchase that does not exceed an aggregate dollar amount of $10,000 should be made via the PCard, or up to $25,000 via Arizona BuyWays.
  2. Departments are encouraged to make purchases from small businesses wherever possible in support of the University's overall Small Business Utilization Program goals.

Vendor Business Types

  1. One of the following Business Types must be used when creating a Vendor in UAccess Financials. This information is required to comply with ABOR, State and Federal reporting requirements. Any Supplier Diversity type with "Small" in the title must have less than 100 employees or less than $4 million in annual sales.
    • Non-Profit - NA
    • Alaska Native Corporation - 51% or more owned and controlled by an Alaskan Native
    • AZ Small Disadvantaged Business - 51% or more owned and controlled by a minority and located in Arizona
    • AZ Small Women-Owned Business - 51% or more owned and controlled by a woman and located in Arizona
    • AZ Small Disadvantaged Women-Owned Business - 51% or more owned and controlled by a minority woman and located in Arizona
    • Big Business - 100 or more employees or more than $4 million in annual sales
    • Historically Black College / University - NA (Federal Tracking and Reporting Only)
    • Small Disabled Veteran-Owned Business - 51% or more owned and controlled by a disabled veteran
    • Foreign Business - Business located outside of the United States
    • Small Hub Zone - 51% or more owned and controlled by a person living and working in a Historically Underutilized area
    • AZ Small Business - Less than 100 employees or less than $4 million in annual sales and located in Arizona
    • Small Business or Individual - Less than 100 employees or less than $4 million in annual sales (also may be used for setting up an individual as a Vendor)
    • Small Disadvantaged Business - 51% or more owned and controlled by a minority
    • Small Women-Owned Business - 51% or more owned and controlled by a woman
    • Small Veteran-Owned Business - 51% or more owned and controlled by a veteran
    • Small Women-Owned Disadvantaged Business - 51% or more owned and controlled by a minority woman and not located in Arizona
  2. See Related Information below for resources that may be utilized in finding qualified Small Businesses.
  3. For further information contact the Small Business Utilization Program Manager.

ABOR Policy 3-803 Source Selection and Contract Formation
ABOR Policy 3-810 Small Business Procurement Program
Code of Federal Regulations
Small Business Utilization Program
Resources for Finding Small Businesses:

* Please note that sections titled Frequently Asked Questions and Related Information are provided solely for the convenience of users and are not part of the official University policy.