Fulfilling his promise to place equity at the center of his administration, Mayor Eric Adams significantly expanded minority- and women-owned enterprises’ access to city business, recognizing their vital role in New York’s economic recovery.
The mayor’s MWBE initiatives have an aggressive goal of awarding $60 billion in city contracts by 2030, including $25 billion by 2026.
Last fiscal year, minority, women and Black-owned enterprises were awarded a record $6 billion in business from New York City as the mayor used discretionary authority under the city’s non-competitive purchase process to more than double the contract value over previous years.
During the Covid pandemic 40% of Black-owned businesses failed. The mayor has prioritized raising participation by minority- and women-owned businesses in city contracts awards by:
• Expanding the Contract Financing Loan Fund, a revolving low-interest fund for MWBEs operated by the New York City Department of Small Business Services to provide an additional $50 million in affordable financing to MWBEs.
• Authorizing city agencies to award up to $1.5 million through the city’s MWBE non-competitive procurement method, tripling the original discretionary limit of $500,000.
• Ensuring that each city agency has a senior staff member empowered to prioritize MWBE programming and facilitate the city’s real-time MWBE performance outcome tracking.
• Creating a construction apprenticeship and training program to forge a pathway for young people to gain access to this vital industry.
New York City often depends on cooperation from Albany to help achieve its goals. For the mayor to succeed in fulfilling his equity objectives, Albany must re-authorize the Article 15-A statute that expires this year. This statute enhances minority-owned businesses’ access to state contracts, facilitates the certification of MWBEs and, most importantly, provides the foundational legal footing for diversifying government spending.
Albany’s legislative and executive powers must sustain our post-Covid economic recovery by allowing future growth to be shared more equitably with Black-owned businesses. To her credit, Gov. Kathy Hochul has touted the elimination of New York’s inexcusable yearslong certification backlog for minority- and women-owned business enterprises that left thousands of applications awaiting approval.
“The backlog in the MWBE system was unfair, it was unjust, and now it’s history. Minority- and women-owned businesses are critical to New York’s long-term economic success…,” Hochul said. While there is more work to be done, the state’s re-authorization of 15-A should be first on the list.
Meanwhile, the mayor’s ambitious goals for boosting MWBEs’ access to city business are a key part of his strategy to improve the post-pandemic business environment. He has also reduced red tape and streamlined the bureaucracy, which helps businesses investing in our city create jobs in major industries such as construction, manufacturing and services. His successes are seen in several metrics:
• Jobs are at record highs.
• New York’s return-to-office rates exceed those of other major cities. • Subway ridership has returned to pre-Covid volume.
• Many major crime categories have shown significant drops.
• Tourism, entertainment and restaurants are heading toward pre-pandemic levels.
Facing a tough budget year, with financial challenges imposed by the costs of city services directed at the migrant influx, Adams has chosen fiscal restraint over increasing the tax burden on families and small businesses. Rather than raising taxes and increasing public debt, which would impede business recovery and cause more New Yorkers to flee, the mayor has set a more constrained course. He’s carefully trimming spending and stressing improving the productivity of city agencies, while seeking greater financial support from Washington, D.C. and Albany to help the city contend with the high costs of the migrant crisis.
Craig Livingston is the chairman of The New York Real Estate Chamber.
