Colorado § 24-103-1103 - Definitions.

§ 24-103-1103. Definitions.

As used in this part 11, unless the context otherwise requires:

(1) "Construction-related professional services" means services with architecture and engineering, surveying, real estate consulting, and related work.

(2) "Disparity" means an inequality, difference, or gap between an actual outcome and a reference point or benchmark.

(3) "Disparity index" means a measure of the relative difference between an outcome, such as percentage of contract dollars received by a group, and a corresponding benchmark, such as the percentage of contract dollars that might be expected given the relative availability of that group for those contracts. In this example, disparity index is calculated by dividing a numerator of percent utilization by a denominator of percent availability and then multiplying the result by 100. A disparity index of 100 indicates "parity" or utilization "on par" with availability. Disparity index figures closer to 0 indicate larger disparities between utilization and availability.

(4) "Historically underutilized business" means an entity:

(a) That is a business, for-profit corporation, sole proprietorship, partnership, or joint venture that is more than fifty percent owned by one or more individuals who are:

(I) United States citizens or permanent resident aliens; and

(II) One or more of the following:

(A) Members of a racial or ethnic minority group; except that a business owned by Asian American persons is a historically underutilized business only with respect to state procurement for "other professional services contracts", as that term is defined in the state disparity study;

(B) Non-Hispanic Caucasian women; or

(C) Persons with disabilities; and

(b) For which the minority ownership controls both the management and day-to-day business decisions.

(5) "Industry" means businesses within one of the following economic sectors:

(a) Construction;

(b) Construction-related professional services;

(c) Brokerage and investment;

(d) Other professional services; and

(e) Goods and other services.

(6) "Minority business office" means the minority business office created in section 24-49.5-102.

(7) "Office" means the office of economic development created in section 24-48.5-101 (1).

(8) "Persons with disabilities" means persons who:

(a) Have physical or mental impairments, or both, that substantially limit one or more major life activities;

(b) Are regarded generally by the community as having a disability; and

(c) Whose disabilities substantially limit their abilities to engage in competitive business.

(9) "Prime contract" means a contract between the state and a business.

(10) "Prime contractor" means a construction business that performs a prime contract for the state.

(11) "Procurement technical assistance center" means the entity through which a procurement technical assistance program is provided.

(12) "Procurement technical assistance program" has the same meaning as set forth in section 24-48.5-121 (2)(d).

(13) "Professional services" means types of work in the service sector requiring special training. Some professional services such as accounting and law, require holding professional licenses.

(14) "Program" means the state procurement equity program established in section 24-103-1104 (1).

(15) "Racial or ethnic minority group" means individuals who belong to one or more racial or ethnic groups identified in 49 CFR Section 26.5:

(a) African American persons, including persons having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa;

(b) Hispanic American persons, including persons of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American, or other Spanish or Portuguese culture or origin, regardless of race;

(c) Asian American persons, including persons whose origins are from Japan, China, Taiwan, Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, the Philippines, Samoa, the United States territories of the Pacific, or the Northern Mariana Islands; or persons whose origins are from subcontinent Asia, including persons whose origins are from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, or Nepal; or

(d) Native American persons, including persons who are American Indians, Eskimos, Aleuts, or Hawaiians of Polynesian descent.

(16) "Remedial measure" means an action designed to address barriers to full participation of a targeted group.

(17) "Small business" means a business that qualifies as a small business pursuant to 13 CFR 121.

(18) "Small business development center" has the same meaning as set forth in section 24-48.5-121 (2)(f).

(19) "Solicitation assistance" means the provision of real-time responses to questions asked by potential contractors who seek guidance as to how best to respond to solicitations for state contracts, including guidance regarding availability of opportunities, interpretation of solicitation documents, and solicitation response procedures and best practices. "Solicitation assistance" does not include guidance specific to a particular solicitation for a state contract that could reasonably be expected to provide an unfair advantage to the potential contractor over other potential contractors responding to the solicitation.

(20) "State disparity study" or "study" means the study regarding the participation of historically underutilized businesses in state contracts entered into by all principal departments of state government that was commissioned by the executive director as required by section 24-103-1003.

(21) "State disparity study report" or "report" means the "2020 State of Colorado Disparity Study Final Report" published in November 2020.

(22) "Subcontractor" means any person who is a party to an agreement with a prime contractor for the purpose of performing a portion of the work that the prime contractor is obliged to perform or have performed under a contract.

(23) "Substantial disparity" means a disparity where the disparity index is less than 80, which can indicate evidence of discrimination affecting the outcome.

(24) "Utilization" means the percentage of total contract dollars of a particular type of work going to a specific group of businesses.

(25) "Women-owned business" or "WBE" means a business that is at least fifty-one percent owned and controlled by one or more individuals that are non-minority women.

Source: L. 2022: Entire part added, (SB 22-163), ch. 433, p. 3048, § 1, effective June 8.