Phoenix is launching a new process to reach underrepresented businesses for landscaping jobs.

The current contract to handle landscaping at 400 city locations expires May 31, 2022. Assistant Finance Director T.J. Martin said the 5-year deal, worth $24.6 million, went mostly to two companies.

She said the city wants to remove barriers for smaller landscapers, “Even though there’s a lot of work to be done to meet the requirement,” Martin said, “there’s also the payoff in the end, an opportunity to have potentially some regular income from work that’ll always be there.”

The city will partner with Local First Arizona to host a virtual webinar to explain the public contract process and answer questions on Jan. 27, 2022, from 4-6 p.m. Registration can be found here. Landscapers with questions can also call the Finance Department at 602-262-7166.

“It’s just an opportunity for us to engage the actual vendor community, to say, ‘How do we get you to be interested in doing work with us? And what can we give you to help you do that? And what makes it worthwhile for you to partner with us?’”

Martin said feedback from smaller landscapers will help shape the process, including whether to request bids for individual assignments or short or long term contracts.