07 Sep
[AUGUST 2023, NEW YORK] Eric Adams, the mayor of New York City, issued Executive Order 34 today to show his continued support for the M/WBE or Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprise Program. This Adam-issued Executive Order 34 standardizes data collecting from organizations connected to the city to make it easier for the city to track the performance outcomes of M/WBEs in real-time.
It ensures city agencies have a senior employee who can prioritize the M/WBE program and report to the city’s chief business diversity officer and the commissioner for M/WBE outcomes. The newly appointed agency’s chief contracting diversity officer will oversee department accountability and help further consolidate M/WBE objectives the city shares.
Mayor Adams told the press, “NYC spends billions of dollars of expenditure funds every year on resources, including goods and services. Not only are we generating jobs but also providing economic on-ramps for all our female and minority business owners.”
“Indeed, the M/WBE program has brought on significant changes to the table, but our government believes that there’s always space for something better. With the initiation of this Executive Order 34, we offer the assistance the agencies require to invest in NYC’s women and minority-owned businesses. It will monitor their business success in real-time to truly achieve that feat. From Manhattan to Long Island, every place in NYC will benefit from an increase in economic opportunities,” he added.
According to First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright, this administration aims to improve our community’s business climate for M/WBEs. This is especially important as we work to recover fully from COVID. Mayor Adams’ approval of Executive Order 34 “enhances contractual opportunities for our varied pool of city-certified M/WBE firms and enables increased centralization of accountability and agency leadership empowerment to direct resources towards their M/WBE outcomes. I’m eager to see the fantastic M/WBE results these interrelated instructions will undoubtedly bring forth.
The Chief Business Diversity Officer – Michael J. Garner, also shared some of his views. He said, “when Mayor Adam came to me to fill this position of NYC’s first-ever chief business diversity officer, he told me that his commitment to this program is as solid as mine. He assured his dedication will be equivalent to what I had in my past three decades of M/WBE programming experience.”
“I want to thank and pay my respect to Mayor Adams as he is a man of his words. by signing this executive order, Mr. Adam entrusted more power and responsibility to me and the different agencies to accomplish our M/WBE program goals faster,” he added.
Director of the Mayor’s Office of Contract Services Lisa Flores stated that the procurement system in New York City is only functional when it is fair and inclusive of the many diverse communities and businesses in the city. She also said, “This executive order is strategically designed and implemented to find and address systematic imbalances damaging the M/WBEs, which used to cause price hikes and poor quality goods and services that all NYC residents contract. To further carry out the mayor’s aggressive M/WBE agenda and increase the variety and quality of opportunities in which our M/WBEs can successfully compete, I am thrilled to work with Garner.”
Mayor Adams stated today that the following will be required of municipal departments under Executive Order 34:
- Before any contract is extended, mandate a review of M/WBE objectives to determine the current M/WBE availability;
- De-bundle capital project contracts above $25 million to level the playing field for smaller M/WBE vendors in the construction industry, which currently has the greatest discrepancies in the city;
- Given the city’s current reaction to the refugee crisis, take into account at least one estimate from an M/WBE vendor firm on all emergency purchases and
- Standardize M/WBE performance information for OneNYC entities linked with the city.
Compulink Technologies Inc.: Guest Speaker of The Event
The Mayor’s Office of Contract Services asked Compulink Technologies Inc. to attend as a guest speaker. The event’s featured speaker — Danielle Arboleda from Compulink — taught the business owner audience how to interact with the NYC government and win contracts.
The primary topics of discussion were:
- How do we get contracts to sell our high-quality, economical IT and telecom hardware?
- How can we, a M/WBE vendor, increase our level of competition in the IT industry?
- How do we find the right people to contact to get MWBE agency bids?
- How can Compulink outbid proposals and estimates by the competitors?
