The Port of Seattle has released its third annual Diversity in Contracting report, covering the year of 2021. The report covers the progress the Port has made during the previous year in attempting to meet its contracting goals of attaining a 15 percent of utilization of MWBEs across all contracts and reaching a goal of 354 MWBEs contracted with by 2023 (which would represent a tripling of total MWBE firms utilized since the goal was originally set).
The Port-wide utilization rate for MWBEs during 2021 was 12.1 percent, with 11.5 percent of that total being for public works construction projects, and 12 percent being for non-public works such as consulting, goods, and services.
The Port plans to use a number of measures to attain its participation goals by 2023, including its PortGen small business accelerator program, which includes a wide variety of training and resource provisions; continuing outreach to over small business advocacy organizations; and using data gathered in its annual reports to target geographically specific MWBEs who may be in need of further outreach and communication.
"We are heartened by these results, which prove that we remain committed to sharing economic opportunities as we build and operate our Port facilities," said Port of Seattle Commissioner Sam Cho in a statement.
Read the Port's press release at https://www.portseattle.org/news/port-seattle-releases-diversity-contracting-annual-report.
Read the report itself at https://www.portseattle.org/sites/default/files/2022-04/Diversity_in_Contracting_2021_Annual_Report.pdf.
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