Calendar of Events

The Office of Business Opportunity’s Procurement 101 tool will launch January 2022: In an effort to assist small businesses in navigating the City’s procurement process, the Office of Business Opportunity, in collaboration with the Strategic Procurement Division, is pleased to announce the launch of the new City of Houston (COH) Procurement 101 Tool. These web-based, on-demand training videos walk prospective City contractors through topics including: How to Bid on Contracts, Responding to RFPs, RFQs, and ITBs, Pre-Bid Meetings, Structuring the Team – Prime & Sub, Contract Terms & Conditions, and much more. The web-based training videos will be available 24 hours/day, 7 days a week. OBO will be sharing the link to the tool in January 2022 via our weekly newsletter, the OBO website, and social media. Other events include:

Live Pre-Certification Workshop: 2 p.m. on Jan. 4. Join representatives from OBO’s Certification division in a presentation and Q&A about the steps to becoming a certified firm. Get an overview of certification types, requirements, application procedures and certification benefits. Registration is required by going to houstontx.gov/obo and clicking on the Certifications tab, or call 832-393-0600 and press Option 1.

Evolving the Business Plan: 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. on Jan. 6 at Houston Community College, 8701 S. Gessner Road, Suite 1200. Join OBO and SCORE Houston for the first of three panel discussions about Business Elements and Projecting Your Business in 2022. For more information, contact Porscha.Jackson@houstontx.gov.

Live Pre-Certification Workshop: 2 p.m. on Jan. 18. Join representatives from OBO’s Certification division in a presentation and Q&A about the steps to becoming a certified firm. Get an overview of certification types, requirements, application procedures and certification benefits. Registration is required by going to houstontx.gov/obo and clicking on the Certifications tab or call 832-393-0600 and press Option 1.

Bookkeeping Matters: 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. on Feb. 10 at Houston Community College, 1600 Texas Parkway. Join OBO and SCORE Houston for the second of three panel discussions about Business Elements and Projecting Your Business in 2022. For more information, contact Porscha.Jackson@houstontx.gov.

Obtaining Business Resources: 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. on March. 10 at Houston Community College, 1600 Texas Parkway. Join OBO and SCORE Houston for the final panel discussion in this three-part series about Business Elements and Projecting Your Business in 2022. For more information, or to register, contact Porscha.Jackson@ houstontx.gov.

Diversifying your Contracting Portfolio: 10 - 11:30 a.m. on Jan. 7 via Zoom. Join OBO, Harris County, University of Houston, and the U.S. Small Business Administration in a workshop focused on how to expand opportunities in the world of procurement. Join with this link: https://bit.ly/3yahoYK.