CA

California Assembly Bill sets SBE utilization quota

A bill has been introduced into the California State Assembly which, if passed, would set a quota (rather than a goal) of awarding 25 percent of all state contracts to small businesses. The bill, AB 915, follows a 2006 exe...

Published Feb 26, 2021

CA

City of Madera DBE Program Policy Statement

City of MaderaDisadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) Program Policy StatementIt is the policy of the City of Madera to ensure that advantaged business enterprises (DBEs)...

Published Feb 22, 2021

MA

City of Boston begins setting MWBE procurement goals

The City of Boston has, up to the present, set small business participation goals in its public procurement through race- and gender-neutral measures. The completion of a recent disparity study into City contracting, howev...

Published Feb 22, 2021

IL

Illinois BEP program to adjust formula for determining availability

The Illinois Department of Central Management Services (CMS) Business Enterprise Program (BEP) has announced a change to its formula used for setting diversity contracting goals for state agencies. The new formula is expec...

Published Feb 17, 2021

LA

New Orleans reorganizes Equitable Business Opportunities program

The New Orleans City Council has approved a reorganization of the City's current efforts, through its Office of Supplier Diversity, to include disadvantaged business enterprises (DBEs) in City procurement. The efforts will...

Published Feb 12, 2021

VA

Proposed bill in Virginia tackles disparities in state contracting

Governor Ralph Northam of Virginia has announced support for a version of a procurement bill currently pending in the state legislature which would support minority- and woman-owned businesses (MWBEs). The bill as introduc...

Published Feb 04, 2021

AL

Birmingham releases results from study on MWBE utilization

The City of Birmingham launched an initiative known as Valuing Inclusion to Accelerate and Lift (or VITAL) in 2019, with the goal of collating and making public the City's diversity spending data and then making changes ba...

Published Feb 04, 2021

NY

New York City to include LGBT-owned businesses in procurement

The New York City Department of Small Business Services (SBS) is set to begin formally including LGBT-owned business enterprises (LGBTBEs) in City procurement through a partnership with the National LGBT Chamber of Commerc...

Published Jan 27, 2021

NY

Nassau County spending review finds low MWBE participation on local contracts

[UPDATE 01/22/21: Nassau County has hired a consultant on a two-year contract (with an option for renewing for one further year) to do a formal disparity study on Nassau County public procurement (the same...

Published Jan 22, 2021

WA

Clark Public Utilities issues Notice to Vendors

Clark Public Utilities, of Clark County, Washington, has established vendor lists for supplying materials, equipment and supplies under RCW 54.04.082 and 39.04.190 which allows the Utility to publish notice of the existenc...

Published Jan 06, 2021

WA

Clark Public Utilities is updating its Small Works Roster and its Professional Engineering and Architects Roster

Clark Public Utilities is updating its Small Works Roster for public works projects under Three Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($350,000) and Clark Public Utilities’ Professional Engineering & Architects (PEA) Ro...

Published Jan 06, 2021

FL

Jacksonville Transportation Authority launches several small business programs

The Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA) has launched several new programs with the intent of supporting small local businesses in city contracting. The programs are designed to provide direct assistance to small lo...

Published Jan 04, 2021

CA

Audit of San Diego SLBE program finds inadequate support for MWBEs

The City of San Diego's current small local business enterprise (SLBE) program was established in 2010 and has been operating since then, but a new audit of the program found that, among other things, the SLBE program was ...

Published Jan 04, 2021

MD

Maryland DOT raises MBE net worth cap

The Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT), through their Office of Minority Business Enterprise (OMBE), announced earlier that they were raising the net worth cap for participation in the state's Minority Business E...

Published Jan 04, 2021

Nat'l

U.S. DOT announces it will broaden DBE eligibility

The United States Department of Transportation (DOT) has announced that it will raise the gross receipts cap on eligibility for businesses to participate in its Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) program. The effectiv...

Published Dec 21, 2020