Cuyahoga County establishes Department of Equity and Inclusion

OH News - Published Jun 02, 2021

The Cuyahoga County Council has voted 9-3 to approve County Executive Armond Budish's plan for establishing a Department of Equity and Inclusion at the County level. The plan will dissolve the currently-existing Department of Procurement and Diversity and split it into two departments, one being the aforementioned Department of Equity and Inclusion for ensuring contract diversity, and a new Department of Purchasing which will solely focus on procurement.

The Department of Equity and Inclusion will not only monitor contracts for usage of minority- and woman-owned businesses (MWBEs), it will seek to recruit MWBEs into bidding on contracts and provide training for other County departments on MWBE inclusion.

The director of the new Department will also be empowered to make recommendations on whether a given bid should be accepted or rejected based on the bidders efforts to comply with MWBE regulations.