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What is the good faith effort?

In the public works and procurement sector, the good faith effort refers to a set of procedures required of companies bidding on government contracts to help satisfy contracts' small, minority, women, and disadvantaged business (ie. DBE, MBE, WBE, UDBE, SBE, DVBE, etc.) participation goals. 

Government agencies apply DBE, MBE, WBE, UDBE, SBE, and/or DVBE participation goals to their contracts in an effort to help these disadvantaged businesses get their fair share of government contracting dollars, though not all contracts have participation goals. 

To be deemed responsive to a contract's participation requirements, companies bidding on the government contracts must either meet the stated goal through subcontracting portions of the contract, perform the good faith effort, or combination of both. 

The most commonly required steps of the good faith effort are:

1. Contact the contract's awarding agency for assistance in identifying certified DBE, MBE, WBE, UDBE, SBE, and/or DVBE that may be interested in subcontracting, supplying, or vendor opportunities on the contract;
2. Contact other government agencies and non-governmental assistance organizations for assistance in identifying interested DBE, MBE, WBE, UDBE, SBE, and/or DVBE firms;
3. Advertise the opportunity to participate on the contract in local papers, trade papers, focus papers, and other pertinent publications. Most agencies require that the advertisement be published 10 business days or 14 calendar days prior to the contract's bid date;
4. Solicit DBE, MBE, WBE, UDBE, SBE, and/or DVBE firms with invitations to bid delivered by fax and email. Some agencies require the invitations to bid be delivered by certified mail and others, in addition to written solicitations, require telephone solicitations.
5. Consider all DBE, MBE, WBE, UDBE, SBE, and/or DVBE firms that expressed interest in the sub-bid opportunities.

If a bidder does not complete the the good faith effort, they may be deemed unresponsive and have their bid dismissed. It is important to note that the specifics of the good faith effort may vary from agency to agency. The above summary is intended as a general guide and bidders are strongly encouraged to consult their bid documents before proceeding with their good faith effort.