Small Enterprises & Municipality Pilot Program

closed

The program seeks to promote development of private and public sector linkages to ensure better provision of municipal services, by funding a series of successful municipal service outsourcing pilot experiences. The components are: a) Fondo de Capacitación Municipal [Municipal Training Fund] (FOCAM); b) Fondo de Capacitación y Asistencia Técnica [Training and Technical Assistance Fund] (FOCAT) for small- and medium-sized firms; and c) an information component, consisting of a Registro de Instituciones de Capacitación y Asistencia Técnica [Registry of training and technical assistance institutions] (RICAT), and informational and promotional events and workshops. Component 1, FOCAM, supports training of municipal staff in the processes of outsourcing municipal services, specifically: detailed costing of municipal expense by service that could be outsourced, development of technical standards for the delivery of services by third parties, preparation of contracts with the selected municipal service providers, and municipal supervision and evaluation mechanisms. The services to be outsourced include garbage collection and disposition, street and sidewalk cleaning, public lighting maintenance, maintenance of green areas, collection of utility fees, and municipal taxes. Under Component 2, small-scale firms will receive assistance in preparing bidding proposals. Subsequently, firms that have been selected to provide the outsourced service will have access to technical assistance for support in preparing business plans, as well as financial and investment plans associated with the provision of services. The type of training the firms can access will include skills benchmarking, upgrading, specialization, and retraining for employees and owners, in order to improve the quality of municipal services provided.Component 3 funds RICAT, a national registry of providers of municipal training services, on the one hand, and of providers of training and technical assistance services for small-scale firms, on the other. The two registries will be centralized in one system, in order to standardize the management of information. Three national workshops to disseminate successful outsourcing experiences will be conducted during the program.