Primary Department: Economic Equity and Opportunity
Primary Department Head/Elected Official: Estella Gonzalez
Secondary Department: N/A
Secondary Department Head/Elected Official:
Regular or Supplemental RCA: Regular RCA
Type of Request: Contract - Award
Project ID (if applicable): 210317
Vendor/Entity Legal Name (if applicable): Ernst and Young LLP
MWBE Contracted Goal (if applicable): 13.3%
MWBE Current Participation (if applicable): 13.3%
Justification for 0% MWBE Participation Goal: N/A - Goal is not 0% and is listed above
Grant Indirect Costs Rate (if applicable): N/A
Justification for 0% Grant Indirect Costs Rate (if applicable): N/A - Not a grant item
Request Summary (Agenda Caption):
title
Request for approval of an agreement with Ernst and Young LLP for a contract award in the total amount of $450,000 for the development of a five-year Strategic Plan for the department, Job No. 210317, MWBE Contracted Goal: 13.3%.
end
Background and Discussion:
Harris County’s Department of Economic Equity and Opportunity (DEEO) intends to engage a third-party consultant to provide an organizational assessment and gap analysis, with a subsequent five-year Strategic Plan for the future delivery of DEEO programmatic services.
A Scope of Work for the strategic planning service was developed and processed as a procurement under the vendor pool consulting slate (Job No. 210317) to allow the DEEO Strategic Plan to be completed in time to tie into the FY2026 budget cycle. An Evaluation Committee comprised of DEEO staff evaluated and scored proposals and recommended Ernst and Young LLC (EY) for a contract award on the basis of best proposal meeting requirements.
Expected Impact:
Harris County DEEO seeks to develop a five-year Strategic Plan to assist the department and Harris County in future planning and provision of comprehensive services offered by DEEO. This would be the department’s first strategic plan since its inception in 2021; the DEEO strategic plan will tie into Harris County’s newly approved strategic plan and will ensure it compliments efforts already undertaken by the Office of County Administration (OCA) and the Strategic Planning Committee.
This plan will evaluate the department's current conditions, provide recommendations to sustain or enhance current services, identify redundancies and impediments, and outline recommended performance measures over the next five years. DEEO has sufficient budget for the costs of this plan; no additional funding is being requested.
Alternative Options:
Commissioners Court could choose to direct DEEO to develop the Strategic Plan internally rather than contract out to an independent consultant. However, significant additional staff resources would be needed, and the timeline to obtain and train additional staff would jeopardize the project’s timeliness. In addition, partnering with a vendor allows an independent perspective to be incorporated into the strategic planning process.
County Strategic Plan Goal: 3. Make our economy more inclusive.
County Strategic Plan Objective: Choose an item.N/A
Justice/Safety Initiative (Goal 1): N/A
Infrastructure Initiative (Goal 2): N/A
Economy Initiative (Goal 3): N/A
Health Initiative (Goal 4): N/A
Climate/Resilience Initiative (Goal 5): N/A
Housing Initiative (Goal 6): N/A
Additional notes related to the Strategic Plan: Embracing Change: The goal is to develop a five-year strategic plan for DEEO to ensure it is aligned with the County’s newly adopted Strategic Plan.
Prior Court Action (if any):
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Date |
Agenda Item # |
Action Taken |
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Location:
Address (if applicable): N/A
Precinct(s): Countywide
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Fiscal and Personnel Summary |
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Service Name |
Administration |
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Current Fiscal Year Cost |
Annual Fiscal Cost |
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Labor |
Non-Labor |
Total |
Recurring Expenses |
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Funding Sources |
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Existing Budget |
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1000 - General Fund |
$ |
$450,000 |
$450,000 |
$ |
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Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
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Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
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Total Existing Budget |
$ |
$450,000 |
$450,000 |
$ |
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Additional Budget Request (Requires Fiscal Review Request Form) |
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Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
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Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
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Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
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Total Additional Budget Request |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
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Total Funding Sources |
$ |
$450,000 |
$450,000 |
$ |
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Grants - Proposed Budget (To be filled out by Grants staff only) |
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Labor |
Non-Labor |
Total |
No. of Grant Years |
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Local Match Source - Existing Budget: Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
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Local Match Source - Additional Budget Request: Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
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Grant Funds Applied for/Awarded (Total) |
$ |
$ |
$ |
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Personnel (Fill out section only if requesting new PCNs) |
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Current Position Count for Service |
- |
- |
- |
- |
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Additional Positions Request |
- |
- |
- |
- |
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Total Personnel |
- |
- |
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- |
Anticipated Court Date: 1/9/2025
Anticipated Implementation Date (if different from Court date): Click or tap to enter a date.
Emergency/Disaster Recovery Note: Not an emergency, disaster, or COVID-19 related item
Contact(s) name, title, department: Estella Gonzalez, Executive Director, Department of Economic Equity & Opportunity
Attachments (if applicable): Request for Proposals, Best and Final Offer and approved M/WBE Utilization Plan