De Blasio Administration Reaches 5,000 City-Certified M/WBEs

May 24, 2017

5,000 City-certified minority and women-owned businesses puts the Administration ahead of schedule to certifying 9,000 M/WBEs by 2019

NEW YORK––Deputy Mayor for Strategic Policy Initiatives and Citywide M/WBE Director Richard Buery today announced that the City has reached 5,000 City-certified Minority and Women-owned Business Enterprises (M/WBEs), meaning the Administration is ahead of schedule of reaching 9,000 City-certified M/WBEs by 2019.

The 5,000th City-certified M/WBE is a Bronx-based transportation firm owned by Miguel Cabrera who was born in the Dominican Republic and immigrated to the U.S. in 2009. After receiving his legal residency, Cabrera worked as a taxi driver and was later inspired to open his own transportation company in 2015. His company, MC Transportation, specializes in delivery services, commercial and residential moving services and construction waste and debris removal. Deputy Mayor Buery and key Administration officials focused on the M/WBE effort presented Miguel with his M/WBE certificate a letter from Mayor Bill de Blasio at a NYC Business Solutions Center in the Bronx. In the letter, the Mayor thanked Cabrera for making contributions to the local economy and highlighted the importance of having all New Yorkers participate in New York City’s economy.

“This City works best when all people - regardless of race, religion or ethnicity - have the resources they need to reach their full potential,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “My Administration is committed to providing those resources to business owners like Miguel, beginning with City-certification, as a way to help grow and sustain their business. I thank Miguel for establishing a Bronx-based firm, hiring locally and reinvesting in the community and congratulate him on being the 5000th City-certified M/WBE firm.”

"We know that with certification comes opportunity. By getting certified by the City as an M/WBE, businesses can access mentoring programs, workshops, networking opportunities and other programs that can help their businesses grow and win contracts with City agencies," said Richard Buery, Deputy Mayor for Strategic Policy Initiatives and Citywide M/WBE Director. "Today marks a critical milestone toward our goal of certifying 9,000 M/WBEs in the next three years. I would like to congratulate Miguel Cabrera, owner of Bronx-based MC Transportation, for being number 5,000!"

“I started my own business to become more independent and give back to my local community by hiring people from my neighborhood,” said Miguel Cabrera. “Working with the City and obtaining City certification can help grow and expand my business so that I can continue hiring locally. I look forward to using City business as a resource and visiting the Department of Small Business Services to learn how I can continue to manage a successful business. I also thank the de Blasio Administration for prioritizing minority and women-owned businesses.”

The de Blasio Administration encourages all M/WBEs interested in doing business with the City to apply for City-certification. City-certified M/WBEs have access to the latest contracting opportunities, are granted City resources that help them bid and successfully perform on City contracts, and are added to the M/WBE Online Directory where contractors and City agencies can proactively seek M/WBEs to do business with. M/WBEs interested in becoming City certified can visit nyc.gov/getcertified.

The Department of Small Business Services recently streamlined the applications for M/WBE certification and recertification to provide a more efficient path to getting certified while maintaining the integrity of the process. The new, user-friendly applications have 30 percent less paperwork and are simplified and sequenced to expedite the completion process. The City also created a separate simpler application for small businesses that are sole proprietors to make the application process more accessible and user-friendly. This will directly benefit women business owners across New York City since 90 percent of women-owned businesses across the United States are sole proprietors.

In September of 2016, when Mayor Bill de Blasio announced his certification goal, the Mayor also announced the goal of awarding 30 percent of the value of all City contracts to M/WBEs by 2021.

“City-certification is a resource that minority and women-owned businesses can utilize to help grow and sustain their business,” said Jonnel Doris, Senior Advisor and Director of the Mayor’s Office of M/WBEs. “I’m happy to see people like Miguel get certified and access all of the resources that come along with MWBE certification, and I congratulate him on being the 5,000th City-certified M/WBE. He embodies everything that makes this City great – the entrepreneurial spirit that this City welcomes from all walks of life to establish businesses and reinvest in local communities.”

“Minority and women-owned businesses play a vital role in our local economy, and I am proud to support Mayor de Blasio’s vision for investing in their success,” said Gregg Bishop, Commissioner of the Department of Small Business Services. “Today, we are excited to celebrate the 5,000th M/WBE that is certified with the City – and to do it here in the Bronx during City Hall In Your Borough. City contractors should reflect the rich talents and diversity of all of our people, and I’m glad that our agency is leading the way by getting more firms certified and connecting them with contracting opportunities.”

PROGRESS:

• In 2015, the Mayor de Blasio established his OneNYC goal of awarding $16 billion to M/WBEs by 2025. The Administration has thus far awarded $3.54 billion dollars to M/WBEs putting the Administration on track to meeting the goal.

• Since the beginning of the Administration, the City has seen a steady increase in the value of City contracts being awarded to M/WBEs. In FY 15, the utilization rate was 8 percent. That number later increased to over 14 percent in FY 16 and – in the first two quarters of FY17 – over $571 million was awarded to M/WBEs, representing an 18 percent utilization rate.

"Increasing M/WBE participation in the City’s procurement process has been a priority of my Administration from day one. I congratulate Mayor de Blasio and his Administration on reaching this important milestone. As we move forward, I will continue to work with stakeholders at all levels of government as well as the private sector to increase MWBE participation and strengthen this critical piece of our city's economy," said Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.

State Senator Marisol Alcantara said, “Incentivizing minority-owned and women-owned businesses is key to tackling income and wealth inequality in our society. By prioritizing these businesses for City contracts, the City of New York puts our values of diversity and equality into action. I am pleased at the continued success of this program and will continue to partner with the Mayor's office to set this program on a firm footing for the future.”

State Senator James Sanders Jr. said, “Certainly, the city has come a long way to arrive at this point where it is certifying its 5,000th M/WBE. As the number of City-certified firms increases, so too will the chances that these businesses get a fair share of City contracts. As the newly appointed leader of the Senate Democratic Conference’s M/WBE Task Force, I believe we should be doing all we can to empower these entrepreneurs and level the playing field in a way that helps them realize their full potential. I look forward to the city certifying its next 5,000 M/WBEs very soon and meeting that 30 percent goal.”

“It is really remarkable for the City of New York to have reached the milestone of 5,000 City-certified M/WBEs ahead of schedule,” said Assembly Member Rodneyse Bichotte, Chair of the Subcommittee on the Oversight of Minority and Business Owned Enterprises (MWBEs). “Mayor de Blasio, Deputy Mayor Richard Buery, Commissioner Gregg Bishop, Senior Advisor Jonnel Doris, and the countless others who have worked tirelessly to streamline the process and to conduct targeted outreach not only to minority and women business owners but to groups such as women of color and the immigrant community that are severely underrepresented in government contract participation. This is not only an economic driver for New York City, as we can see in the case of Mr. Cabrera, it also drives hyper-local economies. I am confident that this Administration will continue to far exceed expectations, and for that reason, M/WBEs and New York City will be better off for it. I commend and congratulate this administration on this great achievement.”

“As chair of the Contracts Committee, supporting our M/WBE and small city contractors is one of the most important parts of my job. This Administration has shown a real commitment to creating innovative and effective new tools for us to do exactly that. I want to congratulate the City on reaching 5,000 City-certified M/WBEs! Thank you to the Mayor, the Deputy Mayor, Senior Advisor Jonnel Doris and Commissioner Bishop for their leadership and partnership on this issue,” said Council Member Helen Rosenthal.

"Congratulations to MC Transportation on becoming number 5,000.  This is a great time for M/WBEs in our City and I am glad to see we are ahead of schedule in meeting the Mayor's M/WBE goals.  This is a testament to the hard work Deputy Mayor Buery, the Mayor's Office of M/WBEs, and the Department of Small Business Services have done to streamline the application process and improve outreach, which is encouraging more entrepreneurs to register their businesses as M/WBEs. I look forward to  continuing this important work and providing my unwavering support to our City's M/WBEs," said Council Member Robert Cornegy. 

“Increasing the number of certified M/WBEs will greatly expand the diversity and capacity of businesses that can work with the City and apply for City contracts. As the 5,000th City-certified M/WBE comes online, this progress must be sustained in order to further increase that number. These new initiatives can certainly help and I look forward to continuing my work with the Administration to support M/WBEs," said Council Member Ritchie Torres.

About the Mayor’s Office of Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprises
Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Administration seeks to increase contracting opportunities for M/WBEs as an essential component in tackling income inequality across the city. Mayor de Blasio created the Mayor’s Office for Minority- and Women-owned Business Enterprises (M/WBE) to address the disparity between City contracts awarded to certain ethnic and gender groups and their overall representation in City contracting. The Office is responsible for oversight, policy, interagency coordination and accountability of the City’s M/WBE Program. It will serve as a One-Stop-Shop for M/WBEs interested in doing business with the city and its agencies.

About the Department of Small Business Services
SBS helps unlock economic potential and create economic security for all New Yorkers by connecting New Yorkers to good jobs, creating stronger businesses, and building vibrant neighborhoods across the five boroughs. For more information, visit nyc.gov/sbs, call 311, and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. To help New York City's small business owners compete and thrive, SBS provides free resources through their network of seven NYC Business Solutions Centers and eight Industrial Business Providers, located across the five boroughs. Free business services include business courses, financing assistance, recruitment services, pro-bono legal advising, help navigating government, and more.