New York helps minority- and women-run businesses secure city contracts

New York City is providing women and minority business owners with funds and networking opportunities to combat the gender and racial imbalance in public sector procurement. The Minority- and Women-Owned Business Enterprise program has created a low-rate contract loan fund to allow minority- and women-owned businesses to take on more resources to tender for public sector contracts, while an outreach program operates across the city’s five boroughs to help businesses certify their minority/women-owned status. The De Blasio administration wants to increase the sum of contracts granted to minority- and women-owned businesses to 30% of the total by 2021.