SBS Hosts Procurement Fair to Help Local Minority and Women-owned Businesses Do Business with the City

August 2008 - In June the New York City Department of Small Business Services hosted the second annual Citywide procurement fair, designed to help local minority and women-owned companies increase the amount of business they do with the City of New York. The event brought more than 500 firms certified with the City as Minority or Women-owned Business Enterprises (M/WBEs) together with purchasers from more than 50 City and State agencies and public authorities as well as several private-sector companies which subcontract with minority and women-owned firms, for information sessions, workshops and networking.

"After last year’s procurement fair, minority and women-owned firms that attended were awarded $13 million in City contracts," said Robert W. Walsh, Commissioner of the New York City Department of Small Business Services. “In this fiscal year to date we’ve seen City-certified firms win over $234 million in contracts. We will continue to work to grow the number of certified M/WBEs, the number of contracts they win and the size of those contracts.”

The Department of Small Business Services has certified a record 531 new M/WBEs this year, and the number of firms re-certifying has tripled since the program’s inception in 2005.
 
To certify with the M/WBE Program, businesses must be in operation for at least one year; be at least 51% owned, operated and controlled by a woman or a member of a recognized minority group; and show a significant tie to the City's business community. For more information, visit www.nyc.gov/getcertified.