Financial Affairs

Small Business First

With the Small Business First program, the University of California is committing to providing contracting and procurement opportunities with certified Small Businesses (SBs), Microbusinesses (MBs), and Disabled Veteran Business Enterprises (DVBEs). The University has established the Small Business First policy to increase the utilization of these businesses in alignment with UC’s sustainability goals and overall mission. Our goal is to award 25% of our total spend to small, diverse, and local businesses.

Image of Open Sign that reads Support Local Businesses

How It Works

All non-construction UC contracts and procurements between $10,000 to $250,000, that cannot be procured via an existing strategically-sourced agreement, should try to be awarded to a SB/MB or DVBE, wherever practicable.

We encourage one quote from a SB/MB or DVBE for purchases between $10,000 to $99,999.99, and two quotes for procurements between $100,000 and $250,000.

Visit UC Office of the President's Small Business First webpage to learn more about the program, read FAQ’s and stay up to date on this program!

Preparing Suppliers To Participate

Does your business qualify for the Small Business First program? This section will help businesses understand our SB1st program and how to prepare.

Get certified as a Small Business (SB) or Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise (DVBE) with your local certifying agency–see sample list of SB/DVBE accepted certifications on UC’s Small Business First webpage

Familiarize yourself with UC Terms & Conditions to ensure you can meet them

Review UC’s insurance requirements to ensure you have the appropriate limits

See Small Business Toolkit for resources:

Subscribe to UC’s Small Business Supplier List to get more information about the Small Business First program

Staff Resources for SB1st

Use the Supplier Representative page
- The Suppliers listed here are strategic suppliers and those most frequently used by UCSC.

Use the State of California CaleProcure Lookup
- The State of California Cal eProcure Lookup can be used to search for certified California small and veteran businesses.

Use Supplier.io to search for small or diverse suppliers
- Use SSO, see UCOP website to learn more on searching for suppliers
- After identifying and selecting the UC Santa Cruz campus from the drop-down menu, search by criteria of choice.

Encourage small and diverse businesses to get certified and register
- Participation in the SB1st program requires expanding awareness of the program and getting potentially eligible businesses to certify.

How-to-Search Video Series and trainings

Know your Small Business Programs Officer
- Josh Martin is the Small, Local and Diverse Business Supplier Relationship Coordinator for UC Santa Cruz. He can be reached at SmallBusinessFirst@ucsc.edu or 831-502-0366. Josh is ready to assist with questions regarding the implementation of the program at UCSC and is an advocate for supporting small, local and diverse businesses.