Los Angeles is gearing up to host the world’s biggest sporting events: the 2026 FIFA World Cup, NBA All-Star Weekend 2026, the 2027 Super Bowl, and the 2028 Olympic Games.
According to Councilwoman Heather Hutt, now is the time for minority-owned and small businesses to get in position to win some of the $10 billion that the city will award in government contracts to support hosting these mega events and overall government operations.
“Local businesses need to thrive at a time when we have this much company coming,” Hutt told the Sentinel, mentioning that an estimated 12 million people are expected for the Olympics alone and her goal is to help more of her constituents and L.A. residents benefit from the influx of money generated from such a massive crowd.
The last time LA hosted the Olympics was in 1984. “And the only way people of color made money (during the Olympics) in ‘84 is if you parked on their lawn…We can move on to bigger and brighter things. I want these Olympics to really make a difference in the District and to your small business.” Hutt said.
More than 50 business owners and community members attended Hutt’s information session at the end of March. Leaders and officials from some of the city’s business and procurement departments taught them how to seek out and qualify for city contracts.
“Why are we giving our business to someone else, outside of L.A.? Why? Why are we doing that?” Rosa Peñaloza, a deputy director with the city’s Economic & Workforce Development Department, asked the room of business owners and operators.
“Yes, why?” Hutt asked out loud, to help drive home Peñaloza’s point she made clear in her next statement.
“No, it has to stay here, and you have to win those contracts.” the EWDD official declared.
What L.A. Will Be Looking For
The city will be awarding its contracts in these three main areas: construction, commodities: physical goods the city needs to operate and services: resources, people, personnel.
“Anything that the City needs in terms of a non-construction and non-commodity contractor, we will go out to bid for that,” Daniel Cho, a senior management analyst with the Regional Alliance Marketplace for Procurement (RAMP), said. “So, if there’s something either we don’t have resources for or we don’t have the manpower or staff, we will actually go out to bid, taken that we actually have money to bid.”
Translation: There’s room for everything from caterers and event staff to printers, drivers, creatives, and consultants. So, don’t limit yourself and prepare now to give your business the best shot at winning one or more of these upcoming contracts.
Where to Get Info about Contracting with the City of Los Angeles
Contracting with the government can be lucrative, but also confusing and overwhelming. L.A. has programs designed to help small business owners navigate the process.
Procure LA, operated by the Pacific Asian Consortium in Employment, offers free resources, expert guidance, access to capital and in-person opportunities for small businesses to network with prime contractors.
One main eligibility requirement for the Procure LA program is that businesses must operate from a commercial location; home-based businesses are not eligible. Interested parties can find out if their businesses are eligible for Procure LA’s program and can apply at ProcureLA.com.
Also, small business owners should visit RAMP’s website, which is where all LA28 Olympics contract opportunities are required to be posted. In fact, most of the city’s procurement spending is through the RAMP program.
And because RAMP uses the 2017 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes for listing and organizing these opportunities, small business owners should identify (and free AI apps, like ChatGPT, can easily help) their business’ relevant NAICS codes to hone in on the opportunities available to them.
Learn more and register for emails of opportunities at RAMPLA.org.
While some certifications like minority-owned business enterprise (MBE) or woman-owned business enterprise (WBE) certifications can be helpful in distinguishing one’s business especially when up against a very similar business which also meets the contract qualifications, these may not be the most impactful certifications one can have when competing for these upcoming contracts.
The ones that may be most effective in gaining possible preference for your business to score one of these highly sought-after contracts are: local business enterprise and small business enterprise certifications, the procurement leaders said.
The wealth of information shared helped many small business owners create a blueprint to compete for the upcoming contract opportunities, which was Hutt’s primary goal in offering the info session.
“We’re going to continue to have these types of workshops in the 10th district so that everyone can learn how to build up their business,” she said. “It’s 2025, and we’re here to thrive!”
