The 2018-2021 Lane County Strategic Plan identifies the key initiative of a Community Benefits framework for Capital Projects with a goal to utilize a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) for large capital building construction projects of $500,000 and over. 

Lane County staff researched applicable procurement policies and statutes, resulting in a recommendation to adopt a prequalification process for such projects. Use of a prequalification process allows Lane County to apply its Strategic Plan policy and still maintain a competitive procurement process for capital building projects.

The prequalification process adopted by the County is called a Community Benefits Bidding (CBB) program. Under the CBB program, larger County building construction/renovation projects with a potential for impact on the community are identified, and prospective bidders for these projects are required to prequalify in order to submit bids. The prequalification criteria requires that prospective bidders possess the ability and capacity to: 1) meet work-specific performance requirements, and 2) meet specific local impact requirements such as paying a board-determined living wage and providing employer paid full-family health insurance coverage.