Minority- and women-owned firms to get help winning New York State contracts
Hope Knight, who leads the state's primary business-aid agency, said helping minority- and women-owned businesses navigate the MWBE certification process creates more opportunities for the firms to do business with the state. Credit: Kevin P. Coughlin / New York State
New York is teaming up with small-business assistance centers this month to help firms that are owned by women and members of minority groups to win government contracts.
Gov. Kathy Hochul announced the initiative, called Whirlwind Winter.
Statewide, 22 Small Business Development Centers and 23 Entrepreneurship Assistance Centers — including four on Long Island — will aid entrepreneurs with completing the paperwork required to get their companies certified as minority- and women-owned business enterprises, or MWBEs.
"We’re ensuring minority- and women-owned businesses across the state have the support they need to navigate the certification process and access state contracting opportunities," Hochul said in a statement last month. "When we remove barriers and streamline processes, we create a more dynamic and inclusive economy that benefits all New Yorkers."
La Fuerza Community Development Financial Institution, based in Nassau County, is also participating in the initiative, which runs through Dec. 31, Hochul said.
Two initiatives earlier this year — Sail-Thru Summer and Respuesta Rápida (Quick Response) — aided 56 businesses, including two from Long Island, according to data obtained by Newsday from Empire State Development, the state’s primary business-aid agency.
Hope Knight, CEO and president of ESD, said the agency cleared a backlog of MWBE applications, thanks to an additional $11 million allocated by Hochul and the State Legislature in the 2022-23 state budget.
The extra funds paid for more staff, a streamlined review process and a third-party vendor, according to ESD's Division of Minority- and Women-Owned Business Development. As a result, applicants now can receive a decision in a minimum of 90 days, compared with nearly 500 days.
"By offering dedicated assistance throughout December [via the Whirlwind Winter initiative], we’re helping qualified businesses complete their certification applications efficiently and positioning them to compete for state contracts," Knight said in a statement.
She and Hochul announced last month that New York awarded more than 30% of its contracting dollars to MWBE firms in the fiscal year ended March 31, marking the fourth consecutive year where the state exceeded its set-aside goal, which was established in 2014 by then-Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo.
MWBE firms — based in New York and elsewhere — shared about $2.8 billion in contracts, or 32.21% of all contracting dollars. That’s the second-highest MWBE utilization rate in state history, Hochul said at the time.
Long Island firms won $414.1 million, the third-largest amount among the regions where contractors are based. New York City ranked No. 1, followed by contractors from out of state, who are lumped into one category. The Island is home to 1,228 MWBEs, according to state records.
This performance is in sharp contrast to the number of contracts awarded to MWBEs by Nassau and Suffolk counties, according to studies by the consulting firm Mason Tillman Associates in Oakland, California.
MWBE firms received less than 10% of each county's contracts in 2015-19, based on the studies.
The local small business development centers participating in the Whirlwind Winter program are located at Farmingdale State College and Stony Brook University. The Farmingdale center can be reached at sbdc@farmingdale.edu or 934-420-2765, while the Stony Brook center can be reached at sbdc@stonybrook.edu or 631-632-9070.
The local entrepreneurship assistance centers participating in the program are based at Hofstra University and Suffolk County Community College. The Hofstra center can be reached at bdc@hofstra.edu or 516-463-5285, while the SCCC center can be reached at epcenter@sunysuffolk.edu or 631-851-6214.
La Fuerza can be reached at info@lafuerzacdc.org or 516-922-8100.
James T. Madore writes about Long Island business news including the economy, development, and the relationship between government and business. He previously served as Albany bureau chief.
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