The Metropolitan District ("MDC" or the "District") is committed to stimulating the local economy by increasing the nature and amount of contracting opportunities available to the small, local business community. In support of this commitment, The District Board recently adopted purchasing and subcontracting procedures for the District's Small Local Business Enterprise ("SLBE") Program, a race and gender neutral procurement initiative which provides certain contracting preferences for eligible and qualified local, small businesses.

The goals of the SLBE Program are to:
1. stimulate the local economy by providing contracting opportunities for small businesses that are located within the member towns of the MDC; and
2. increase the size, capacity and competitiveness of the local, small businesses community.

To participate in the SLBE Program, a business must:

• Be certified as a Small Business Enterprise ("SBE")* by the State of Connecticut, Department of Administrative Services ("DAS") Office of Supplier Diversity or as a Disadvantaged Business Enterprise ("DBE") by the State of Connecticut, Department of Transportation ("DOT"); and
• Become a registered vendor on MDC Central Bidder Registry ("CBR")**. Click the following link to be redirected to the CBR Registration page; and
• Be primarily located in one of the MDC's eight member towns (Bloomfield, East Hartford, Hartford, Newington, Rocky Hill, West Hartford, Wethersfield or Windsor);

* Under Conn. Gen. Stat. § 4a-60g, minority-owned businesses also qualify as Small Business Enterprises ("SBE's"). For the purposes of the DAS certification, a "minority" is a person who is American-Indian, Asian, Black, Hispanic, has origins in the Iberian Peninsula, a woman or an individual with a disability.
** If you have previously registered as an MDC vendor on the CBR, you do NOT need to register again to qualify for the SLBE Program. You should, however, check your vendor listing in CBR and upload your DAS or DOT SBE/DBE certificate, if you haven't done so, to assure your eligibility for the Program.

The SLBE Program utilizes two primary development initiatives to ensure that the goals of the program are met: Set-Asides and Mandatory Subcontracting Requirements. Each initiative will provide unique contracting opportunities for all SLBE firms that are eligible and qualified to transact business with the District. The MDC will make every effort to utilize these development initiatives for all procurements whose expected value is greater than $3,000, but less than $500,000.

Under the SLBE Program, a Set-Aside shall be any purchase or contract that is reserved for competition exclusively amongst SLBE firms. The MDC will only set-aside purchases and contracts if there is a reasonable expectation that:
1.there will be three or more responsible SLBE firms available and capable of performing the contract; and
2. the award will be made at fair market price. The District will utilize set-asides for individual purchases (i.e. a one-time solicitation for a particular good, service or construction trade) and class purchases (i.e. when the MDC sets aside an entire class or category of purchases for eligible SLBE firms).

For larger contracts that provide flexible subcontracting opportunities, the District will seek to establish mandatory requirements that a certain percentage of subcontracts awarded by the prime contractor be awarded exclusively to SLBE's. These mandatory subcontracting requirements will ensure that SLBE firms have an opportunity to participate in larger projects of the District. The SLBE subcontracting requirements are in addition to and separate from any goals or requirements set by governmental funding agencies that a certain percentage of subcontracts be awarded minority and women-owned business.