Certifications

Select Certification DBE MBE WBE SBE DVBE HUB Section 3 ELBE SLBE

State

Select a State Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District Of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming

NYC seeks to spending 30 percent with MWBEs by 2021

Minority- and women-owned businesses (M/WBEs) providing goods and services to New York City agencies have reasons for optimism following Mayor Bill de Blasio's roll-out of an array of new initiatives aimed at increasing M/WBE participation in the city contracting process.

"As a city, we are committed to ensuring that all people - regardless of race, gender or ethnicity - have the means to succeed in our economy. It is a fact that when minority- and women-owned businesses have the opportunity to participate in our economy, communities across New York City and the City as whole thrive," said Mayor Bill de Blasio at an event launching the changes at the end of September.

Spearheading these initiatives is the establishment of a new M/WBE participation goal. While a comptroller's audit found that only 5.3 percent of city spending on goods and services in 2015 went to M/WBEs, de Blasio aims to increase that figure to 30 percent by 2021.

In the service of meeting the 30 percent goal, the Mayor is beefing up the City Contracting Financing Loan program. Through this program, M/WBEs and certain other eligible small businesses will be able to apply for loans of up to $500,000 at an APR of 3 percent.

Increased funding is also being made available to the Department of Small Business Services and the Mayor’s Office of Contract Services, with the goal of providing greater service, expertise, and connections to both M/WBEs and City agencies that work with M/WBEs.

Additionally, a Mayor’s Office of M/WBEs, which is intended to serve as a one-stop shop for M/WBEs to coordinate with all agencies that are relevant to their contracting work with the City, has been created.

These new policies are followed by a number of other M/WBE personnel changes coming from the Mayor’s office, including the appointment of a new Director of the City’s M/WBE program and a new M/WBE Senior Advisor.

For more information, visit http://www1.nyc.gov/office-of-the-mayor/news/775-16/mayor-de-blasio-bold-new-vision-the-city-s-m-wbe-program#/0