Mayor Eric Adams. Photo Credit: facebook.com/NYCMayor
On August 8, 2023, Mayor Eric Adams signed Executive Order 34 as part of his ongoing commitment to the Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprise (M/WBE) Program, which expands opportunities for minority and women entrepreneurs to access government contracts and grow their businesses.
Executive Order 34 standardizes data collection from city agencies to facilitate real-time tracking of the city’s M/WBE performance outcomes. It also ensures that city agencies have a senior staff member—who reports to the citywide chief business diversity officer and their respective commissioner on M/WBE outcomes—to prioritize M/WBE programming. The newly created agency chief contracting diversity officer will ensure accountability across agencies and help to further citywide M/WBE goals.
Additionally, the executive order requires mayoral agencies to re-evaluate M/WBE goals before renewing contracts to assess current M/WBE availability, de-bundle capital project contracts over $25 million to level the playing field for M/WBE vendors in construction and consider at least one quote from a M/WBE vendor firm on all emergency procurements.
Mayor Adams stated, “By building economic on-ramps for our minority and women business owners, we are creating jobs and improving the way government provides services to New Yorkers. Our M/WBE program has already made a huge difference in our city, but there is always room for growth. Executive Order 34 provides the support needed to allow agencies to truly meet the mark by investing in our minority businesses and tracking our agencies’ progress in real time. This is not only a game changer, but how we expand economic opportunity for all across the five boroughs.”
First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright stated, “Mayor Adams’ signing of Executive Order 34 allows for further centralized accountability, empowers agency leadership to drive resources towards their M/WBE outcomes, and enhances contractual opportunities for our diverse pool of city-certified M/WBE firms. I’m excited for the great M/WBE outcomes these combined directives will surely produce.”
Mayor’s Office of Contract Services Director Lisa Flores stated, “This executive order takes a bold approach and stands as concrete action to address the structural disparities that harm M/WBEs and ultimately lead to increased costs for the city and decreased quality of goods, services, and construction for which we contract.”
By: Dylan Shusterman (Dylan is the CityLaw intern and a New York Law School student, Class of 2025.)
Source: Mayor Adams Issues Executive Order Creating More Streamlined and Accountable Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprises Program, August 8, 2023