Erie County increases total M/WBE participation
Published on 06/17/2013
In early June, the Erie County Department of Purchasing and the Office of Equal Employment Opportunity announced that over $24.1 million of the County's 2012 contracting dollars went to minority and women-owned businesses (M/WBEs).
The 2012 Minority & Women Vendor Usage report found that women-owned firms accounted for the largest share of city M/WBE spending for the year, totaling $2.2 million or 9.30 percent of all contracts. This is an slight increase from the 9 percent these businesses attained in 2011.
African-American owned businesses experienced the largest gains, obtaining 2.8 percent or $663,893 of County contracts in 2012, compared to just 0.6 percent in 2011. The County also increased its inclusion of Hispanic-owned businesses from 0.1 percent in 2011 to 0.62 percent in 2012.
"The County Executive has made it a priority of his administration to ensure a greater commitment to the utilization of minority and women-owned businesses in our procurement and contract practices through increased outreach, enhanced transparency and effective monitoring of progress in these areas," said Jesse Burnette, Director of the Office of Equal Employment Opportunity.
Not all socially and economically disadvantaged groups certified as M/WBEs, however, saw growth in County contracting. Participation of firms owned by Native Americans fell from 0.70 percent in 2011 to 0.44 percent in 2012. Similarly, Asian American-owned business utilization dipped from 1.10 percent in 2011 to 0.99 percent in 2012.
"Erie County will continue to reach out to minority- and women-owned businesses and look for their participation in county contracting," said Erie County Executive Mark C. Poloncarz. "They are valued partners in building our economy and we hope that more of these businesses will consider contracting with the county as they grow in our community."
