Susana Alcala Wood, City Attorney Jorge Oseguera, City Auditor Mindy Cuppy, City Clerk Howard Chan, City Manager John Colville, City Treasurer City Council Report
915 I Street, 1st Floor
Sacramento, CA 95814
www.cityofsacramento.org
File ID: 2021-01481 January 4, 2022 Consent Item 07
Title: Agreement: Professional Services Agreement with the Sacramento Metro Chamber Foundation for the Thousand Strong Program
Location: Citywide
Recommendation: Pass a Motion authorizing the City Manager or the City Manager’s designee to: 1) execute a Professional Services Agreement with the Sacramento Metro Chamber Foundation for payroll services for the Thousand Strong program for an initial one- year term in the amount of $320,950, with the option to extend the agreement for up to two additional one-year terms in the amount of $320,950 per year, for a not-to-exceed amount of $927,850; and 2) execute the one-year extensions if there are sufficient funds available in the budget adopted for the applicable fiscal year.
Contact: Nicole Cuellar, Senior Policy Advisor, (916) 808-8828, Office of the Mayor, [email protected]
; Kriztina Palone, Workforce Development Manager, (916) 808- 2260, [email protected], City Manager’s Office of Innovation and Economic Development.
Presenter: None.
Attachments:
1-Description/Analysis
2-Professional Services Agreement
3-Metro Chamber Foundation Impact Report and Testimonials
File ID: 2021-01481 Consent Item 07
January 4, 2022
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City of Sacramento
Description/Analysis
Issue Detail: In 2017, Mayor Steinberg announced the launch of Thousand Strong, a comprehensive work skills training, career coaching, and paid internship initiative for students served by schools in the City of Sacramento. Ensuring the region has a thriving workforce is central to the City’s economic growth and is a priority for Sacramento’s leadership. Career pathways that allow for early access to work experiences, such as internships, ensure that youth are gaining the technical and soft skills they need to be career ready. In fact, employers increasingly are looking for new hires with relevant experiences, making internships the new entry-level position. Despite barriers related to the pandemic throughout 2020 and 2021, the program continues to evolve and is now working with its fifth cohort of students.
On October 2, 2017, the City entered into City Agreement 2017-1188 with the Sacramento Metro Chamber Foundation (Metro Chamber) to provide payroll services for student participants and recruit employment partners, as well as provide administrative oversight, work permitting support, and on-boarding of both students and employers. The original not-to- exceed amount of the agreement was $280,000. The City entered into three supplemental agreements to extend the term of City Agreement 2017-1188 through 2021 because the Metro Chamber provided exceptional work as the administrative backbone for Thousand Strong and provided services that the City lacked the staff capacity to meet. As a result of these supplemental agreements, the total not-to-exceed amount of City Agreement 2017-1188 is $880,000. City Agreement 2017-1188 has now reached its not-to-exceed amount.
Rather than extend City Agreement 2017-1188 again, the City has negotiated a new agreement with the Metro Chamber that includes a revised scope of services that is more specific and allows the core infrastructure that current programming relies on to continue.
The partnership with the Metro Chamber is a core component of the current Thousand Strong Program. The Metro Chamber is the only organization that holds a contract with the Foundation for California Community Colleges (FCCC) for the WorkDay payroll service, which enables employers to hire interns while the FCCC serves as the employer of record and thus carries the burden of liability, human resources, and payroll needs; this is essential to the success of the program. Further, FCCC and Metro Chamber are the only local partnership that is willing to work with students under eighteen years of age.
As part of its duties under the proposed agreement, the Metro Chamber will provide guidance to organizations working with youth when navigating the requirements for legal employment in California including assistance with the work permit process, i-9 verifications, and ensuring students and coaches understand and are compliant with California labor law.
File ID: 2021-01481 Consent Item 07
January 4, 2022
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City of Sacramento
Metro Chamber will also provide additional technical capacity as the payroll manager for Thousand Strong by creating an additional level of oversight to the program’s day-to-day operations as it helps community-based organizations navigate hours worked, payroll management and time keeping supervision. Centralizing human resources, onboarding and payroll systems creates a more coordinated internship model for youth. The Metro Chamber is an essential partner that makes Thousand Strong more accessible to both youth and employers.
This agreement allows the Metro Chamber to onboard and manage payroll for 175 students each year. In addition to managing payroll services, this agreement allows the Sacramento Metro Chamber Foundation to develop additional funding streams for Thousand Strong, recruit additional employers, develop employer-sponsored youth, facilitate employer trainings, and develop pathway specific cohorts that align with industry trends. This agreement included a revised scope of services as Thousand Strong evolves to meet Sacramento’s current workforce development needs.
Policy Considerations: The recommendation in this report is consistent with City Code Chapter 3.64 regarding contracting for professional services and AP-4102. Supporting Thousand Strong is aligned with and supported by the Youth Development Campaign Plan which seeks to ensure that the City better meets the needs of its youth through strategic investment of resources and the implementation of an infrastructure that aligns the City’s programs under a unified vision, framework, and set of goals. This recommendation is also consistent with the City of Sacramento’s Inclusive Economic Development strategy by investing in youth and providing them with skills and sector-specific experience they need to be successful for both college and career when they graduate from high school. The internship opportunities in Thousand Strong are typically for youth that would not have access to broad professional networks. This key element is also part of addressing systemic poverty by creating opportunities that did not exist for these youth before Thousand Strong and values the student’s effort by providing a meaningful income stream to families that often need it. City staff selected the Metro Chamber through a sole source procurement process because it was in the best interest of the City to do so. After conducting a good-faith review of available sources for these professional services, staff determined that the Metro Chamber is the only reasonable and practicable source for these required professional services because of the Metro Chamber’s contractual relationship with the FCCC for payroll services, and both the Metro Chamber’s and FCCC’s unique willingness to work with youth under 18.
Economic Impacts: Thousand Strong positively impacts Sacramento’s economic landscape by providing opportunities for youth to earn wages through paid work experiences. Since 2017, 750 youth have been employed through Thousand Strong internships managed by the Metro Chamber.
This represents over 50,000 hours worked and $550,000 in wages earned.
File ID: 2021-01481 Consent Item 07
January 4, 2022
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City of Sacramento
Thousand Strong’s low barrier entry process is designed to engage with youth who may not otherwise participate in an internship. This approach creates further positive economic impacts by connecting marginalized youth with meaningful opportunities to earn income for themselves and their families.
Environmental Considerations: This report concerns administrative activities that do not constitute a “project” as defined by the CEQA (CEQA Guidelines Section 15378(b)(2) (Title 14 Cal. Code Reg. 15000 et seq.)).
Sustainability: Not applicable
Commission/Committee Action: None.
Rationale for Recommendation: In an effort to continue to move the Thousand Strong program forward seamlessly, staff is recommending that the City enter into a new agreement with the Metro Chamber to extend service delivery. The Metro Chamber has an established track record of success in regional workforce development with recruiting, placing, and supporting youth and the community-based organizations in internship and employment programs. In addition, the Metro Chamber provides a centralized payroll system to ensure that all students working in Thousand Strong are legally employed. Approving this agreement will provide continuity in the Thousand Strong program.
Financial Considerations: The Professional Services Agreement has an annual not-to- exceed amount of $320,950 ($60,000 for administrative costs and $260,950 for Thousand Strong youth participant wages and payroll expenses), or a total not-to-exceed amount of $927,850 for the potential three-year term. Sufficient funding exists in the Thousand Strong Multiple Year Operating Budget (I01000300, Fund 2401) for the initial one-year term. Approval of the subsequent one-year term extensions (up to a maximum of two extensions) is subject to availability of sufficient funding in the adopted budget for the applicable fiscal year.
Local Business Enterprise (LBE): The Metro Chamber is an LBE.
Background Thousand Strong was developed in partnership with the Metro Chamber and is a city-wide approach to workforce development that begins with our youth. Our youth will have place-based experiences that ensure that they leave the education system with the skills needed to successfully transition into the world of work. This initiative seeks to reward our youth with various incentives to show them we value the work they do while helping them prepare for the future. Thousand Strong is an opportunity to leverage Sacramento's resources by pooling investments and connecting partners to maximize impact.
750
YOUTH
EMPLOYED
50,000
HOURS
WORKED
$550,000
WAGES
EARNED
Jordan and Alayna Smith are sisters that participated in Thousand Strong.
Jordan interned in the first and second years of the program. She was the first in her family to attend college and is now a Junior at UCSB. Alayna interned in the fourth and fifth years of the program and will be attending UCLA this Fall. Both recognize that Thousand Strong has given them experience and connections that they would not have been able to receive anywhere else. Additionally, their dollars earned went towards both overall household income and towards their own personal savings for future expenses.
“We were able to mentor and develop multiple young leaders in the community and give them experience in working with young children. One student in particular showed tremendous leadership potential and hired her on to our preschool staff.
Over a year later, she is still a member of our core team and enrolled in her first college classes to study Early Childhood Education!”
-LESLIE BOSSERMAN, THE MAKERS PLACE
“The Metro Chamber Foundation has made it possible for 16-18 year old youth to experience paid employment through employer partnership across the region.Their impact is driving increased employment and workforce readiness in our marginalized youth populations.”
-TIM ALDINGER, FOUNDATION FOR CALIFORNIA COMMUNITY COLLEGES
IMPACT NUMBERS
EMPLOYER PERSPECTIVES
STUDENT SUCCESS STORY
STUDENT
APPLIES
ONLINE
STUDENT SELECTION
& ENROLLMENT IN 40
HOURS SKILL TRAINING
HOW THE PROGRAM WORKS
EMPLOYER
PLACEMENT
300 HRS EARNED WAGE
EMPLOYMENT
YEAR LONG EMPLOYMENT
ON RESUME AND POTENTIAL
LONG-TERM EMPLOYMENT