OCII reports high SBE participation and COVID-driven drop in construction hours; outlines workforce and training partnerships

OCII contract-compliance staff presented the agency's annual small-business enterprise (SBE) and local-hire report, outlining contracting results, workforce hours, and training partnerships with the city's Office of Economic and Workforce Development (OEWD) and CityBuild.

"We take good faith seriously in the sense of getting into the weeds of the developers and general contractors' contracting practices," said Ray Li, who presented the SBE and workforce metrics and described program administration and outreach. Li reported that OCII awarded approximately $41 million in the past fiscal year, with roughly $31–32 million going to small businesses (a share staff characterized at about 70–78%). He said approximately 73% of awards went to San Francisco-based firms and that nearly $17 million was awarded to firms located in District 10 (Bayview–Hunters Point ZIP codes 94124, 94107 and 94134).

Li also detailed workforce results: overall local-hire participation was reported at 16.5% during the period covered, and certified construction hours fell to about 920,000 this fiscal year from nearly 2.2 million in the prior reporting period — a drop staff attributed largely to COVID-19's impact and to completion of large projects such as the Chase Center and Transbay towers.

OEWD and CityBuild representatives described ongoing and planned training pathways beyond construction, including tech and healthcare training, a first-source hire example for an OCII property (staff cited Facebook), a Mission Rock construction training cohort for women and a manufacturing job fair hosted with SFMADE scheduled for October. OEWD staff also noted budget increases supporting workforce initiatives, and Ray Li flagged Dreamkeeper initiative funding directed at African American-focused workforce investments.

Commissioners praised the internship and training outcomes and asked staff to continue tracking internship outcomes and demographic participation, particularly among African American students. Two callers — an OCII/JCYC intern and another recent intern — offered public comment thanking OCII and partners for hands-on internship experience.

The workshop required no vote. Staff said the upcoming steps include continuing outreach, completing environmental and procurement steps for pending projects, and reporting on training outcomes and internship participation at future meetings.