1                                                Resolution No. 3737 
2 
3              A RESOLUTION of the Port of Seattle Commission establishing a Diversity
4                                in  Contracting  Policy  Directive  to  increase  women  and
5                                minority business opportunities and to repeal Resolutions 
6                                No. 3506 and No. 3618. 
7 
8              WHEREAS, the Port of Seattle mission is committed to create economic opportunity for
9     all, steward our environment responsibly, partner with surrounding communities, promote
10    social responsibility, conduct ourselves transparently, and hold ourselves accountable; and 
11 
12            WHEREAS, the economic vitality of a community is strengthened and more resilient
13    when opportunity is inclusive across our diverse communities; and 
14 
15            WHEREAS, the Port of Seattle is uniquely positioned among public agencies to lead in
16    efforts of justice and equity by providing a level platform to all businesses including women and
17    minority business Enterprise (WMBE) firms to compete and succeed; and 
18 
19            WHEREAS, the 1998 passage of Initiative 200 by Washington state voters prohibited 
20    racial and gender preferences by state and local government led to an underutilization of
21    WMBE's at the Port and many other public agencies; and 
22 
23            WHEREAS, In 2003, in response to I-200, the Port passed Resolution No. 3506, a race
24    neutral  approach  "establishing  a  program  to  develop  mutually  advantageous  business
25    relationships with small businesses, and firms owned and operated by minorities, women and
26    disabled"; and 
27 
28            WHEREAS, In 2010, the Port of Seattle passed Resolution No. 3618, a race neutral
29    approach to develop "a program to develop mutually advantageous business relationships with
30    small businesses including those owned and operated by people of color, women, people with
31    disabilities, veterans, and the socio-economically disadvantaged"; and 
32 
33            WHEREAS, the Port of Seattle's efforts and programs as a result of Resolutions 3506 and
34    3618 have increased small business participation but have not increased WMBE participation; and 
35 
36            WHEREAS, it is a priority for the Port of Seattle to affirmatively expand its efforts to
37    increase WMBE participation in port contracts and ensure that WMBEs are afforded fair and
38    equitable opportunity to compete for port contracts, succeed as subcontractors, and do not
39    face unfair and unnecessary barriers when seeking and performing on port contracts; and 
40 
41            WHEREAS, current data and the 2014 disparity study show that WMBE participation in
42    Port of Seattle opportunities has been and continues to be disparately low; and 
43 

Resolution No. 3737, Diversity in Contracting Policy Directive                                            Page 1 of 8

44          WHEREAS, this policy will strengthen Port of Seattle efforts to eliminate this disparity
45    and result in more equity, diversity, and inclusion for WMBEs in Port opportunities; and
46
47          WHEREAS, the Port of Seattle seeks to identify and change internal Port processes and
48   standards to clearly establish program goals and create accountability; and
49
50          WHEREAS, the Port of Seattle values a diverse workforce and has engaged in improving
51    diversity and inclusion focused on race and expects to develop a new equity process tool
52    designed  to  integrate  explicit  consideration  of  racial  inequities  and  identification  of
53    interventions for use in policy, program, and budget planning and implementation; and
54
55          WHEREAS, the Port of Seattle is committed to its values of conducting business with the
56    highest ethical standards and our business practices shall reflect integrity, accountability,
57    honesty, fairness and respect at all levels;
58
59           NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Port of Seattle Commission as follows:
60
61    SECTION 1. Resolution 3506 adopted May 27, 2003, is hereby repealed.
62
63    SECTION 2. Transition from Resolution 3618. The Executive Director may continue to operate
64    under Resolution  No. 3618, as needed, to allow for transition to Resolution 3737, until
65    September 1, 2018, at which time Resolution No. 3618 will be repealed and replaced with
66    Resolution 3737.
67
68   SECTION 3. The Diversity in Contracting Policy Directive as shown in Exhibit A is hereby
69    established.
70
71   SECTION 4. This policy directive shall be labeled and catalogued as appropriate, together with
72    subsequent policy directives, and shall be made readily available for use by Port staff and
73    members of the public as a governance document ofthe Port of Seattle.
74
75          ADOPTED by the Port Commission of the Port of Seattle at a duly noticed meeting
76   thereof, held this ql'" day of  (Summits   ,
2018, and duly authenticated in open session by
77   the signatures of the Commissioners vot'ng in favor thereof and the seal of the Commission.
78
(,2,            RYAN CALKINS
79
80
CCUTi's'E'r' Gzf'i"
81    '
hr 59  Jul?
82
Kr; -"
83                                               r/          STEFHNEi': BGE'FM'iM
84
PETER STEINBRUECK
85
86
1    FRED FELLEl'v'IAH
87
88                                                le Commissioners


Resolution No. 3737, Diversity in Contracting Policy Directive                                            Page 2 of 8

89                                                  EXHIBIT A 
90                                  Diversity in Contracting Policy Directive 
91 
92    SECTION 1.  Purpose. 
93 
94    The Port finds that minority and women businesses are under-represented and have been
95    under-utilized on Port contracts. The purpose of this policy directive is to provide the maximum
96    practicable  opportunity  for  increased  participation  by  minority  and  women  owned  and
97    controlled  businesses  in  Port  contracting for  public  works,  consulting  services,  supplies,
98    material, equipment, and other services to create the opportunity to leverage Port spend to
99    increase WMBE utilization. 
100 
101    SECTION 2.  Definitions. 
102 
103    For the purposes of this chapter: 
104 
105    "Affirmative efforts" means documented reasonable attempts in good faith to contract with
106    women and minority businesses. 
107 
108    "Availability" or "available" as used in this chapter means a business that is interested in and 
109    capable of performing the work within the time frame required and to the quality specified in
110    the solicitation and contract. 
111 
112    "Capability" or "capable" as used in this section means that a business appears able to perform
113    a commercially useful function in performance of the work. 
114 
115    "Commercially useful function" means the performance of real and actual services in the
116    discharge of any contractual endeavor. 
117 
118    "Contract"  means  an  agreement for public works, consulting services, supplies, material,
119    equipment, or other services. 
120 
121    "Contract awarding authority" means any individual, office, or division that is receiving the
122    benefit of the contract. 
123 
124    "Contractor" means a business that has a contract with the Port.
125 
126    "Division" means any Port of Seattle organization structure that has a director that reports to
127    the Executive Director. 
128 
129    "Women or minority business" (WMBE) means a business that is at least 51 percent owned and
130    controlled by women and/or minority (including, but not limited to African Americans, Native
131    Americans, Asians, and Hispanics) group members. 
132 

Resolution No. 3737, Diversity in Contracting Policy Directive                                            Page 3 of 8

133    "Central database" means an electronic database that collects, aggregates, and tracks monthly
134    Port-wide, division, and department-level utilization of small business, women and minority 
135    owned business, and other classifications across various categories and contract types and
136    promotes transparency for the public. 
137 
138    "Relevant demographic data" is defined as, but not limited to, Asian-Pacific Americans, Black
139    Americans, Hispanic Americans, Native Americans, Asian, and Women, and other characteristic
140    information related to a business owner's sexual orientation, sex/gender, race, ethnicity, or
141    veteran status as self-reported and/or certified by another government entity, as deemed
142    necessary or relevant to eliminating disparity in Port contracting. 
143 
144    "Utilization" is defined as both the percent of contracting dollars paid to WMBE firms as well as
145    the number of WMBE firms under contract. 
146 
147    SECTION 3.  Scope and Applicability. 
148 
149    This policy shall apply to all contracts and other activities at the Port, including construction and 
150    consulting contracts, purchased goods, and services. 
151 
152    SECTION 4.  Responsibilities. 
153 
154    The Executive Director shall pursue the Century Agenda goal to increase WMBE utilization in all
155    Port contracts and shall: 
156 
157    A.  Achieve the Century Agenda goal to triple the number of WMBE firms that contract with the
158        Port and increase to 15 percent the percentage of dollars spent on WMBE contracts, within
159        five years of the Diversity in Contracting Program implementation; 
160 
161    B.  Within 120 days of passage of this policy directive, develop a Diversity in Contracting
162        Program that identifies affirmative efforts to afford women and minority businesses the
163        maximum practicable opportunity to meaningfully participate on Port contracts and to
164        achieve the Port-wide goals; 
165 
166    C.  Incorporate these WMBE goals into the Port's Long Range Plan to the fullest extent
167        reasonable, including incorporation into Long Range Plan scorecards, reports, and Long
168        Range Plan updates.  Further, the Executive Director shall prepare and publish an annual
169        report each year titled Diversity in Contracting Annual Report; 
170 
171    D.  Improve inclusion and outreach to sustain and improve WMBE participation and to reduce
172        disparity in Port contracting; 
173 
174    E.  Take  affirmative  efforts  to  assure  equality  of  contracting  opportunity  through  the
175        development and application of Inclusion Plans or other tools as necessary; and 
176 

Resolution No. 3737, Diversity in Contracting Policy Directive                                            Page 4 of 8

177    F.  Expand opportunities for WMBE firms across Port functions, wherever practicable. 
178 
179    SECTION 5.  Policy. 
180 
181    A.  The Diversity in Contracting Program shall include: 
182 
183        (1) Responsibilities, policies, practices, and processes that can change the Port procurement
184            and contracting processes and provide a more receptive environment for the utilization
185            of WMBE firms, and to ensure that businesses and contractors of all tiers working on
186            Port contracts and subcontracts utilize WMBE firms, wherever feasible or as required. 
187 
188        (2) Development of a standard procedure for the Port-wide  WMBE goal setting, and
189            collection and reporting of relevant demographic data to be stored in a central
190            database. 
191 
192        (3) Identify categories of contracts that will require WMBE inclusion plans and other tools
193            that will be applied to other categories of contracts Port-wide.
194 
195        (4) Clear lines of responsibility and accountability for implementation of the WMBE
196            program and a designated WMBE liaison for each division. 
197 
198        (5) Make WMBE goal setting and affirmative implementation efforts part of the annual
199            performance evaluation for each Port division director and their staff and require
200            standardized WMBE program training, implementation, and coordination for all division 
201            leaders and their WMBE representatives. 
202 
203    B.  The Diversity in Contracting Annual Plan shall include: 
204 
205        (1) Specific measures the contract-awarding authority will undertake to increase the
206            utilization of WMBEs and to reduce disparity in Port contracting; and 
207 
208        (2) Specific goals by division for WMBE utilization:
209 
210            (a) Each Port division will review future procurements to identify available firms on
211               upcoming  contracts  to  create  a  utilization  goal  that  is  justifiable,  bold,  and
212               challenging. 
213 
214            (b) Construction goals, other than small works, based on historic utilization plus two
215               percent, until such time that a disparity study or other valid internal data can
216               demonstrate a reasonable level of utilization.
217 
218    C.  To improve inclusion and outreach to sustain and improve WMBE participation and to
219        reduce disparity in Port contracting, the Port shall: 
220 

Resolution No. 3737, Diversity in Contracting Policy Directive                                            Page 5 of 8

221        (1) Support training and assistance to Port staff to increase participation in outreach and to
222            learn about the internal and external resources available to include WMBE firms in their
223            procurement and contracting; 
224 
225        (2) Improve  and  expand  technical  assistance,  including  WMBE  certification,  business
226            development, training, and mentoring programs for WMBE firms to enhance bidding
227            expertise and promote greater coordination with advocacy organizations, businesses, 
228            individuals, and public agencies and other Port departments; 
229 
230        (3) Create opportunities for members of the contracting and vendor community, Port, and
231            other stakeholders to work collaboratively on recommendations for how the Port can
232            more effectively use the directives in this policy directive; 
233 
234        (4) Assist contractors desiring to bid on  Port covered contracts  to comply with the
235            affirmative  efforts  provisions  for  such  contract,  and  offer  information  as  to
236            organizations and agencies available to assist such contractor in recruiting, mentoring,
237            training, or otherwise preparing potential subcontractors; and 
238 
239        (5) Cooperate and establish formal and/or informal partnerships and mutual cooperation
240            with the Office of Minority and Women's Business Enterprises and other public agencies
241            to carry out the purposes of this policy directive, as needed. 
242 
243    D.  Affirmative efforts to assure equality of contracting opportunity required: 
244 
245        (1) Develop procurement tools, such as WMBE inclusion plans, and require bidders and
246            proposers to comply with the WMBE solicitation requirement in order to sustain and
247            improve participation of WMBE in Port covered contracts; 
248 
249        (2) Prepare and require that Port covered contracts include specifications pertaining to 
250            equal opportunity affirmative efforts to assure equality in contracting opportunity, and
251            goals for subcontracting to women and minority businesses. Any goals established
252            under this chapter shall be reasonably achievable; however, no utilization requirements
253            shall be a condition of contracting, except as may be allowed by RCW 49.60.400; 
254 
255        (3) Identify and implement a Port-wide method to regularly monitor and measure the Port
256            WMBE program and attainment of the goals by contractors; 
257 
258        (4) May establish aspirational goals for the participation of women and minority businesses
259            in a particular Port contract on a case-by-case basis; 
260 
261        (5) Work closely with other divisions and departments to ensure all policies, practices, and
262            processes are consistent and complementary and make it easier for WMBE firms to 
263            pursue Port contracts; 
264 

Resolution No. 3737, Diversity in Contracting Policy Directive                                            Page 6 of 8

265        (6) Define, implement, and monitor appropriate processes and procedures to ensure
266            prompt  payments  and  change  order  processing  to  address  timely  payment  of
267            contractors, suppliers, and subcontractors at all tiers. Review and recommend potential
268            for including prompt pay in performance goals. 
269 
270    E.  Affirmative efforts in subcontracting: 
271 
272        (1) All contractors, including WMBE firms, shall actively solicit bids for subcontracts to
273            qualified, available, and capable WMBE to perform commercially useful functions; 
274 
275        (2) Contractors shall consider the grant of subcontracts to women and minority bidders on
276            the basis of substantially equal proposals in the light most favorable to women and
277            minority businesses; 
278 
279        (3) At the request of the relevant Port department, when inclusion plans are required,
280            contractors  shall  furnish  evidence  of  the  contractor's  compliance  with  these
281            requirements  of  women  and  minority  solicitation  and  will  submit  evidence  of
282            compliance with this section as part of any bid. Contractors shall provide records 
283            necessary to document affirmative efforts to subcontract with women and minority 
284            businesses on Port contracts; 
285 
286        (4) Compliance with all requirements and past performance under this policy directive may 
287            be included in the evaluation of future procurements; and 
288 
289        (5) In applying the provisions of this Policy Directive to contracts funded in whole or in part
290            with federal funds and subject to 49 CFR Part 23, Subpart D,   regarding Airport
291            Concessions Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (ACDBE) or 49 CFR 26, Subpart C,
292            regarding Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBE), references to Women and Minority
293            Businesses shall also include federally recognized ACDBEs or  DBEs. In the event of a
294            conflict between the provisions of this chapter, or the rules implementing this policy
295            directive, and the requirements of 49 CFR 26, Subpart C, or 49 CFR Part 23, Subpart D, or
296            any other superseding applicable federal statute or regulation, the provisions of the
297            federal statute or regulation shall control. 
298 
299    F.  Expanding Opportunity. 
300 
301        (1) The Port shall review and recommend how to expand opportunities for WMBE firms in
302            other Port enterprise opportunities, for example real estate leases, to encourage and
303            promote access to Port facilities by September 1, 2018. 
304 
305        (2) The Port shall develop a baseline utilization number for veteran owned businesses and
306            propose a reasonable Port-wide goal and division goals to the Commission for inclusion
307            in the Century Agenda by September 1, 2019. 
308 

Resolution No. 3737, Diversity in Contracting Policy Directive                                            Page 7 of 8

309    SECTION 6.  Program Evaluation. 
310 
311    A.  Benchmarks and metrics to evaluate the Diversity in Contracting Program shall include: 
312 
313        (1) Incorporation of these WMBE goals into the Port's Long Range Plan to the fullest extent
314            reasonable, including incorporation into Long Range Plan scorecards, reports, and Long
315            Range Plan updates. 
316 
317        (2) Specific measures the contract  awarding authority will undertake to increase the
318            participation of women and minority businesses and to reduce disparities, including the
319            number of events or outreach activities conducted to ensure responsiveness to bid
320            opportunities. 
321 
322        (3) Progress towards specific division WMBE utilization goals, including the number of
323            opportunities a division has available, the goals established for those opportunities and
324            the actual utilization, including periodic review of disparity study results to determine
325            reasonableness of goals. 
326 
327        (4) Data reporting using the standard procedure identified in the WMBE program for the
328            Port-wide collection and reporting of relevant demographic data including percent of
329            spend, number of businesses, and type of procurements. 
330 
331        (5) Preparation and publication of an annual report titled Diversity in Contracting Annual
332            Report. 
333 
334    B.  The Internal Audit Director shall include the Diversity in Contracting Program in Internal
335        Audit Department's 2019 work plan to determine adherence to this policy and include in
336        future years as the Commission Audit Committee deems appropriate. 
337 
338    SECTION 7.  Fiscal Implications. 
339 
340    Fiscal implications shall be reviewed by the Executive Director annually, at a minimum, to ensure
341    the implementation of the policy directive is adequately resourced and shall submit a budget
342    request as appropriate. 





Resolution No. 3737, Diversity in Contracting Policy Directive                                            Page 8 of 8

Diversity in Contracting Sample Disaggregated Data Dashboard 
Race 
Black       Hispanic       Native     Asian Pacific   Caucasian      Other        Not         Total 
American     American     American     American                             Known 
Number of Firms 
Minority Certified 
Women & Minority Certified 
Women Certified 
Veteran certified 
Total Certified (non-duplicated) 
Minority Self-Identified 
Women & Minority Self-Identified 
Women Certified Self-Identified 
Total Self- Identified (non-duplicated) 
Amount and Percent of Spend 
Minority Certified 
Women & Minority Certified 
Women Certified 
Veteran Certified 
Total Certified (non-duplicated) 
Minority Self-Identified 
Women & Minority Self-Identified 
Women Self-Identified 
Total Self-Identified (non-duplicated) 
DBE (All Certified) 
Minority and Non-Minority 
Number of Firms 
Amount & Percent of Federal Spend 
Amount & Percent of Non-Federal Spend 
Amount & Percent of Total Spend