Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf announced in a press release that the Bureau of Diversity, Inclusion and Small Business Opportunities (BDISBO) has released its annual report for 2021, which details a 30 percent increase over the previous year in state contract spending with small, diverse and veteran-owned businesses. The total spend with small, diverse, and veteran-owned businesses was $856 million, out of a total $4.2 billion in spending by the state.
The spend represents the first time that Pennsylvania's spending with small, diverse, and veteran-owned businesses has exceeded 20 percent (the figure is estimated at 20.25 percent for the fiscal year).
Various BDISBO programs also registered successes during the 2021 fiscal year, including: the Small Business Reserve program, for intentional purchases with small businesses, which awarded 668 contracts worth $43 million total to small businesses; the new Goal Setting Policy, under which policies can be set on specific contracts, resulted in contracting goals on over 500 contracts with a total value of $1.7 billion; and an additional 100 firms registered with the State under the self-certification procedures..
Governor Wolf has called upon the Pennsylvania legislature, in light of the BDISBO report, to pass Senate Bill 900, which would ensure further funding for the various programs BDISBO runs for the benefit of small, diverse, and veteran-owned businesses.
"This is a true milestone for our efforts to improve diversity, equity, inclusion and fairness in state contracting," Governor Wolf said in a press release.
Read the press release from the Governor's Office at https://www.governor.pa.gov/newsroom/wolf-administration-supports-small-diverse-veteran-businesses-with-record-setting-856-million-contract-spend-in-2020-2021/.
Read the BDISBO's annual report at https://www.dgs.pa.gov/Small%20Diverse%20Business%20Program/Documents/BDISBO%202020-21%20Annual%20Report.pdf.
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