The following is a release from King County:

Procurement reforms initiated by King County Executive Dow Constantine to expand opportunities for small businesses to contract with the county have been honored by American City & County Magazine. The national trade journal named King County as one of seven winners of its 2013 Crown Communities Award.

“With procurement reform, we’ve made it easier for small businesses to do business with us, while cutting in half the time it time it takes to get many of these contracts done,” said Constantine. “Our staff deserves this national recognition for the innovative work to improve efficiency, lower costs, and expand equity and opportunity for local small businesses.”

The Procurement Reform Initiative created a more efficient and equitable environment for contractors doing business with King County by increasing contracting opportunities for small firms and reducing the cycle time for the procurement process.

“King County government has always been a major business generator in our region, but the old system discouraged many qualified firms from bidding on county contracts,” said Ken Guy, director of King County’s Finance and Business Operations Division. “Now, with the process improvements we’ve achieved through procurement reform, we’re able to drive more of our business to small local firms. This creates local jobs and strengthens our local communities.

Equity and social justice are key components of the Procurement Reform Initiative. By streamlining standard contracts, creating a regional small business certification program, and updating the county’s online vendor registration system, more firms have been able to bid on county contracts. More than 1,700 firms are now in the county’s vendor database, many of which are women- and minority-owned businesses.

For more information about the Crown Communities Awards, visit www.americancityandcounty.com. To learn more about King County’s Procurement Reform Initiative, log on to www.kingcounty.gov/procurement.