Local contractors are petitioning the Haines Borough Assembly to give resident businesses a better opportunity at securing contracts for borough projects.
A petition signed by 14 business owners and submitted by Southeast Road Builders president Roger Schnabel asks the assembly to increase the “local preference” margin from 3 percent to 5 percent.
That would mean if a local contractor’s responsive bid on a project is 5 percent higher than an out-of-town bidder, the local business would still be considered the low bid.
The petition was signed by larger companies including Turner Construction (Don Turner), Stickler Construction (Dave Stickler) and Northern Construction (John Floreske), and smaller companies like The Stump Company (Scott Rossman), Houlberg Plumbing (Keith Houlberg) and Darkhorse Customs (Tony Malone).
The petition cites the Alaska Department of Transportation, Alaska Department of Natural Resources, and Municipality of Skagway as using the 5 percent margin. Schnabel said the change would empower local businesses and keep dollars circulating locally. “Every percent counts. All of us are grateful for any percent we can get,” he said.
The petition also requests “local bidder preference” be clearly identified in bid documents.
Manager David Sosa said he has directed staff to review the requests and provide recommendations.
Chamber of Commerce President Kyle Gray said the chamber board hasn’t addressed the issue, but he personally would be in favor of the percentage bump. “It’s keeping the money in Haines, it’s supporting local businesses. That’s our mission statement,” Gray said.