Los Angeles prefers local businesses
Locally based companies in Los Angeles will now receive preferential treatment when competing for city government contracts. The new law, signed Wednesday, is expected to create jobs in the city.
Under the new law, local businesses will receive an 8 percent competitive advantage in bids and proposals for all contracts with Los Angeles general fund departments. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s Office of Economic and Business Policy developed the Local Preference Ordinance last year to increase the number of city contracts going to local businesses. In 2010-2011, the city contracted for more than $2.4 billion in goods and services, but a review of spending by eight major departments in 2008-2009 showed that only 15 percent of city contracts were going to businesses located in Los Angeles. “We are not waiting for Washington to create jobs,” Villaraigosa said in a statement. “The Local Preference Ordinance helps level the playing field, making it possible for local businesses to compete more effectively for city government contracts.”
Villaraigosa is urging the heads of six departments beyond the reach of the ordinance — the Department of Water and Power, the Port of Los Angeles, Los Angeles World Airports, Recreation and Parks, the Community Redevelopment Agency, and the Los Angeles Public Library — to adopt an 8 percent competitive advantage for local businesses, as well. The port, airport and redevelopment agency, along with the city’s Department of Public Works, already have adopted local hire agreements that require at least 30 percent of the workers to come from the city, and Villaraigosa is negotiating with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to implement a targeted hire strategy.
Read Villaraigosa’s statement on the Local Preference Ordinance.
