The City of Shreveport’s Fair Share Initiative was originated by Ordinance on July 27, 1999. The overall intent of the Ordinance and resulting Plan was to develop an office dedicated to serving the needs of a unique clientele. Implementation of the program began on January 1, 2000.

Additionally, The Fair Share Ordinance is a concept unique to the City of Shreveport in its effort to bring more small Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBE), Minority Business Enterprises (MBE) and Women Business Enterprises (WBE) into the economic mainstream of the local economy. Simply put, the program aims to “level the economic playing field.” The major intent of the program is to provide opportunities for companies and individuals to do business with the City of Shreveport where opportunities may not have existed in the past.

METHODOLOGY

The Fair Share Initiative strives to accomplish its purpose in a number of ways. Foremost among these is serving as a strong and forceful advocate for its clientele. Many clients of the Fair Share Program are first-generation entrepreneurs and in need of help with “ the business of doing business.” The Fair Share Program addresses this need by providing a slate of conferences and seminars dealing with subjects like “Networking and Relationship Building,” “Understanding Purchasing Regulations,” “How to get Insurance and Bonding,” plus a number of other topics useful to first-generation entrepreneurs.

MONITORING

Undergirding the Fair Share Program is the City’s Contract Tracking Ordinance. This Ordinance allows the City to monitor and track the involvement of Fair Share Certified (FSC)clients, Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) clients, Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) clients and Women Business Enterprise (WBE) clients in the purchasing of all goods and services . This information allows the City to continually assess its progress in meeting the goal (25%) set forth in the legislation that established the Fair Share Program.

To bring together the partners necessary for success, we have developed a centralized source through which prime contractors may quickly find Certified Fair Share subcontractors and vendors. It is an on-line Directory that is searchable by keywords, generic categories and NAICS Codes.

The online directory has been prepared as an aid to persons with procurement responsibilities in federal, state and local government agencies as well as those associated with or responsible for purchasing in the private sector. Additionally, it serves as an instrument for networking between Fair Share Certified firms/individuals, minorities, women and disadvantaged businesses.

CRITERIA FOR LISTING

A business must meet certain financial and economic criteria for eligibility in the Fair Share Program. Applications and information regarding the Fair Share Certification Program may be obtained by contacting the Fair Share Office or visiting the Fair Share website.. http://www.ci.shreveport.la.us/Fair_Share/fairshare.htm

WHAT ARE NAICS CODES?

(How can the NAICS Codes help me find the vendor or contractor I need ?)

North American Industry Classification System (NAICS)

The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) has replaced the U.S. Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system. NAICS was developed jointly by the U.S., Canada, and Mexico to provide new comparability in statistics about business activity across North America.

NAICS is a unique, all-new system for classifying business establishments. It is the first economic classification system to be constructed based on a single economic concept. Economic units that use like processes to produce goods or services are grouped together. This "production-oriented" system means that statistical agencies in the United States will produce data that can be used for measuring productivity, unit labor costs, and the capital intensity of production; constructing input-output relationships; and estimating employment-output relationships and other such statistics that require that inputs and outputs be used together.

The SIC Codes, used since the 1930s, were developed by an Interdepartmental Committee on Industrial Statistics established by the Central Statistical Board of the United States. Its charge was "to develop a plan of classification of various types of statistical data by industries and to promote the general adoption of such a classification as the standard classification of the Federal Government . That list of Industries for manufacturing, published in 1938, and the 1939 List of Industries for non-manufacturing industries, completed in 1939, became the first Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) for the United States.

By the early 1990s, many data users and analysts were criticizing the SIC as outmoded and not reflective of the economy of the United States. The adoption of the North American Free Trade Agreement underscored the need, not only to develop a new system, but also to develop that system in cooperation with Canada and Mexico. In early 1992, OMB established the ECPC, comprised of representatives from the Bureau of Economic Analysis that chaired the committee, the Bureau of the Census, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and charged it with a "fresh slate" examination of economic classifications to determine if a new system should be developed and whether or not that new system should be based on an economic concept.

HOW IS NAICS DIFFERENT FROM THE SIC?

NAICS is based on a consistent, economic concept. Establishments that use the same or similar processes to produce goods or services are grouped together. The SIC, developed in the 1930s and revised periodically over the past 50 years, was not based on a consistent economic concept. Some industries are demand-based while others are production-based.

NAICS recognizes the changing and growing service-based economy of the United States and its North American neighbors. NAICS includes 1,170 industries of which 565 are service-based industries. The SIC had 1,004 industries of which 416 were service-related industries. Three hundred and fifty-eight new industries are recognized in NAICS, 250 of which are service- producing industries. There are 20 sectors in NAICS of which 16 are services-related. The SIC had ten divisions of which five were service-related.

NAICS provides for comparable statistics among the North American countries. In addition, it provides for more comparable information. The SIC did not.

NAICS is a six-digit system that provides for comparability among the three countries at the five-digit level, albeit with a few exceptions. The SIC was a four-digit system that was not linked in any way to the systems of Canada and Mexico. A six-digit system was adopted for NAICS to provide for increased flexibility in the system. NAICS allows each country to recognize activities that are important in the respective countries, but may not be large enough or important enough to recognize activities in all three countries. The sixth digit is reserved for this purpose.

You may find a NAICS Code for a specific industrial activity by going to the following web site. http://www.census.gov/epcd/naics02/naicod02.htm