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CityAndStateNY.com
March 14, 2022
MWBE REPORT
Certified slowdown Gov. Kathy Hochul wants to help clear the backlog of MWBE approvals with additional funding.
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HEN GOV. KATHY HOCHUL gave her State of the State address, she spoke about rebuilding New York’s economy. One way she said that would help was to make it easier for New York’s minority- and women-owned business enterprises, often referred to as MWBEs, to be certified with the state. A proposal in her briefing book included allocating up to $11 million to improve the efficiency and timeliness of processing applications from businesses seeking that designation. This came just weeks after she told the state’s MWBE community some thrilling news: In 2021, the state had reached its contract target goal by giving 30.5% of its contracts to MWBE firms and awarding them $3 billion in state contracts. “We surpassed our nation’s leading goal of 30% utilization,” Hochul told the attendees at an MWBE forum. “We’re at 30.5%, I believe it is. Yes, we did it. We did it together.” The news was equally exciting for many involved with the state’s MWBE program, such as Hope Knight, the president and CEO-designate of Empire State Development, which oversees the MWBE program. “We were striving to achieve the goal, so we were ecstatic about it,” Knight said. “I think there was a lot of interest in seeing whether or not we would or would not reach the goal, but we did. And we did it in a year of unprecedented economic chal-
lenges, due to COVID-19. So, we’re especially proud of that.” Now, with the possibility of using $11 million, which Knight confirmed would help process certifications as well as create a new unit meant to process appeals, the state might be able meet its MWBE goal again in 2022. There are some challenges standing in the way, including the ongoing pandemic, which did not stop the program last year but could still cause ripple effects in the MWBE community. Lourdes Zapata, the president and CEO of the South Bronx Overall Economic Development Corp., said the pandemic harmed MWBE firms, which tend to be smaller than other businesses. And because of that, those firms could continue to struggle as long as COVID-19 is slowing down the state’s growth. “I think we’re going to see the ramifications of COVID,” she said. “The labor issue is affecting all businesses, not just minority- and women-owned businesses, but for-profit businesses in general facing labor shortages. All of those challenges that come with labor being able to find qualified folks, being able to pay those competitive salaries that you’re going to need to pay to attract employees are magnified when you’re talking about smaller firms that already are having challenges competing with the big guys.” There were other problems that emerged as a result of the pandemic, such as supply chain issues, inflation and the labor shortage.
PAULA BORKOWSKI; EMPIRE STATE DEVELOPMENT
By Megan McGibney
