The city has raised its 10-year target for contracts awarded to certified M/WBEs to $25 billion by 2025.
The $5 billion increase was announced by Mayor Bill de Blasio during an event at SER de Puerto Rico, a non-profit in Hato Rey, Puerto Rico.
SER has been supported in its recovery from Hurricane Maria by Marvel Architects, an M/WBE that works in both New York and Puerto Rico.
“New York City was built by women and people of color, but for decades, the doors of opportunity were shut to them,” said de Blasio. “We set out to fix that longstanding injustice and invest back into our communities, and now we’re committing to doing even more.”
J. Phillip Thompson, Deputy Mayor of Strategic Policy Initiatives, said the M/WBE Program levels the playing field by providing historically marginalized communities with increased access to wealth-building opportunities in the form of city sontracts.
“Our announcement today of increasing the OneNYC M/WBE goal to $25B by 2025, and the City’s discretionary spending limit for M/WBEs to $500,000, will cement a legacy of sustainability for M/WBEs,” said Thompson. “This action signifies our Administration’s ever-deepening commitment to these talented entrepreneurs and to creating a fair and equitable city for all New Yorkers.”
Since the creation of the Office of M/WBEs in 2016, one of the organization’s primary goals has been to increase the dollar value of city contracts awarded to certified M/WBEs in NYC.
As of today, that goal has been raised $25 billion by FY25; the office launched with a goal of $16 billion in contracts by FY25, which was raised to $20 billion last year. However, having already awarded $13.2 billion in contracts to M/WBEs, the City is currently $3.2 billion ahead of schedule, allowing for a new, more ambitious goal. In FY19 alone, the City awarded $3.8 billion in contracts to M/WBEs through both Mayoral and non-mayoral agencies. The latter group includes agencies such as the Economic Development Corporation and the Department of Education.
The Office of M/WBEs is also far ahead of schedule on its other two primary goals. In June, the City accomplished another goal of certifying 9,000 M/WBEs, well ahead of the deadline of the end of FY19. Reaching that mark doubled the certified pool of businesses in just three years.
The City remains on track to reach its third goal as well, awarding 30% of mayoral contracts subject to Local Law 1 to M/WBEs by FY21. In FY19, the City awarded 24% of its contracts to M/WBEs, a tripling of the initial 8% M/WBE utilization in just four years.
The top five performing OneNYC agencies since 2015 include the School Construction Authority, which awarded more than $3.1 billion to M/WBEs, the Department of Design and Construction, which awarded more than $2.3 billion to M/WBEs and the Economic Development Corporation, which awarded more than $704 million to M/WBEs.
This year, Albany also enacted legislation that gives the City the authority to increase economic opportunities for M/WBEs. The City can now make discretionary awards to M/WBEs of up to $500,000.
A higher discretionary threshold will increase M/WBEs’ access to more City projects that also are larger in scale.
The bill also allows the City to implement other key programs already available to M/WBEs at the State level, such as a mentorship program and prequalified lists. and non-mayoral agencies. The latter group includes agencies such as the Economic Development Corporation and the Department of Education.
The Office of M/WBEs is also far ahead of schedule on its other two primary goals. In June, the City accomplished another goal of certifying 9,000 M/WBEs, well ahead of the deadline of the end of FY19. Reaching that mark doubled the certified pool of businesses in just three years.
The City remains on track to reach its third goal as well, awarding 30% of mayoral contracts subject to Local Law 1 to M/WBEs by FY21. In FY19, the City awarded 24% of its contracts to M/WBEs, a tripling of the initial 8% M/WBE utilization in just four years.
The top five performing OneNYC agencies since 2015 include the School Construction Authority, which awarded more than $3.1 billion to M/WBEs, the Department of Design and Construction, which awarded more than $2.3 billion to M/WBEs and the Economic Development Corporation, which awarded more than $704 million to M/WBEs.
This year, Albany also enacted legislation that gives the City the authority to increase economic opportunities for M/WBEs. The City can now make discretionary awards to M/WBEs of up to $500,000.
A higher discretionary threshold will increase M/WBEs’ access to more City projects that also are larger in scale.
The bill also allows the City to implement other key programs already available to M/WBEs at the State level, such as a mentorship program and prequalified lists.
