Council rejects Tempe-based small-business firm to ‘stay local’

The city of Maricopa stuck by their local guns Tuesday night, shooting down a staff recommendation to hire the Tempe-based firm of Stelthmode Partners to provide small-business courses in the community.

“I am astonished staff recommended an out-of-town vendor when it only scored two points better on evaluations than a local company,” said Councilman Carl Deidrich.

The city put out a request for bid nearly a month ago, looking for companies that could provide a series of classes to current and future small-business owners. The courses would focus on providing training for individuals launching new ventures or getting their current business over the hump.

“If we can generate even two or three jobs out of this program, it will be a great success,” said Danielle Casey, city economic development director.

Through the bid process, two local companies and Stelthmode, submitted proposals. All three were scored on a 100-point scale.

Points were awarded in the categories of total cost, firms’ experience, quality of classes proposed, references and overall conformance to the proposal request.

“We had several evaluators look at the proposals and Stelthmode came up as the best to implement these courses,” said Dennis Kirkland, city purchasing manager.

The Tempe firm scored a 94, while Maricopa-based Executive Leadership posted a score of 91.

Stelthmode outscored Executive Leadership 27 to 25 in the experience category and 27 to 26 in the quality-of-classes’ category.

“If council were to approve this recommendation, it would go against everything the city is trying to do,” said Diane Morrow, Maricopa Chamber of Commerce assistant to the director. “Let’s keep Maricopa business in Maricopa.”

Council will bring back the item for approval at the next council meeting. The small-business contract is being paid for through a $30,000 U.S. Department of Agriculture grant.

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