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City Departments Get DBE Kudos 
At the annual Diversity Business Awards ceremony held Sept. 26, several City departments and one City employee were recognized for their efforts in working with DBE vendors. 

"We are pleased that City staff share the Mayor’s vision for promoting the administration’s core values, and we appreciate – and want to recognize – their efforts in working with our DBE community," said Penny Owen during the outset of the internal awards portion of the event.   

The DBE Advocate Award is divided into four categories based on the percentage of discretionary dollars spent with DBEs. The discretionary spend are those purchases under $5,000, in which cases purchasers are not required to obtain more than one quote. By breaking this into the four categories, departments compete against departments with similar size spend, categorized as Large Spend, Medium Spend, Small Spend, and Micro Spend.

The DBE Advocate Award for having the highest percentage of discretionary expenditures in the large spend category, having conducted 90.04 percent of their discretionary spend with minority- and woman-owned businesses, goes to the Engineering Department.

City Engineering
Engineering staff members


Knoxville Area Transit received the DBE Advocate Award for having the highest percentage of discretionary expenditures in the medium spend category, having conducted 24.94 percent of their discretionary spend with minority- and woman-owned businesses. 

Benefits & Risk Management received the DBE Advocate Award for having the highest percentage of discretionary expenditures in the small spend category, having conducted 23.49 percent of their discretionary spend with minority- and woman-owned businesses.

City Court was given the DBE Advocate Award for having the highest percentage of discretionary expenditures in the micro spend category, having conducted 82.04 percent of their discretionary spend with minority- and woman-owned businesses.

Five departments conducted more than 50 percent of their discretionary spend with Small Businesses: 

Public Service

Public Service - 55.68 percent. 

Inspections

Inspections - 66.42 percent. 

Russ Jensen

311 - 78.72 percent. 

Housing and Neighborhood Development

Housing & Neighborhood Development – 90.05 percent!

The Law Department was recognized for 67.68 percent of their FY 22 discretionary spend with Small Businesses. 

This year's Employee Advocate Award went to KFD Captain Joey Jones. who oversees the department's logistics divisions. He keeps the fire stations well stocked with materials, supplies, and equipment that the station could need at a moment’s notice.  In order to help the department reach DBE goals, Jones seeks out small, minority, and women-owned businesses. And when faced with supply chain issues, he was able to find tools for fire trucks at the Co-Op in Jefferson County.  "His outside the box thinking helps with problem solving while also expanding the Fire Department’s business with DBEs," Julie Maxwell wrote in his nomination. 

Joey
Posted by ptravis On 05 October, 2022 at 12:14 PM