Nassau County connects with minority, women-owned small business, aiming to diversify contract awards

Hundreds of minority and women small business owners connected Friday with each other and Nassau agencies as the county looks to increase diversity in awarding contracts.

The county’s Office of Minority Affairs hosted a showcase for Minority and Women Owned Business Enterprises, or MWBE, at the Yes We Can Community Center in Westbury to allow business owners to network and connect to resources with Nassau County agencies and the Town of North Hempstead.

"The importance of this event is to let our minority and women owned small businesses know that Nassau County is open for business," Nassau County Minority Affairs Director Lionel Chitty said. "The goal is to connect business owners with county procurement and other departments who have a combined purchase over a billion dollars worth of products a year."

The county is aiming to award at least 15% of its contracts to minority and women-owned businesses and award at least 2% to service-disabled veteran-owned businesses, Chitty said.

A Suffolk County disparity study completed in December found, between 2015 and 2019, the majority of the county’s vendor contractors were awarded to companies owned by white men, including 95% of Suffolk’s budget for professional service contracts.

Suffolk officials set its goal at 16% of contracts to MWBE businesses. Statewide, officials have said they have exceeded the goal of awarding 30% of contracts to MWBE businesses.

Chitty said Nassau was looking at Suffolk's study to help it set benchmarks for diversifying.

"We’re doing the work that needs to be done and to repair some of the errors in the past so that we can level the playing the field," Chitty said. "These businesses aren't looking for a handout. They're just looking for the opportunity."

Vicki Sylvain, 49, of Westbury, was seeking to make connections for her company, VSS Group, offering professional support for returning to the workforce or job transition.

"This allows small businesses to level the playing field and connect with the county and cities they wouldn’t have access to," Sylvain said. "Everyone has a dream of starting business. This helps you understand how to make sure a business thrives and securing space in the business community."
Monifa Clarke, 26, runs an online startup based in Elmont called Plugsity. She said she wanted to come to the expo Friday to connect with small businesses to share on her platform.

"Businesses can be very fragmented online and this is a place to shop and share for different small businesses," Clarke said. "I think for people and women of color, they’re not always at the forefront when we think of businesses and organizations. This creates a spotlight for women of color and minority businesses to say 'I’m here' and showcase their businesses."

Nassau County Comptroller Elaine Phillips said small businesses are a key factor in the county’s $4.4 billion budget.

"What makes Nassau County tick is 45,000 small businesses of 50 employees or less," Phillips said. "In the county’s budget, 45% of revenue is driven from sales tax. The more sales tax we take in for Nassau County, the less likely the county is to raise property taxes "

Attorney and author Shanell Parrish-Brown, 52, of West Hempstead, was promoting her series of children books and a novel to help address victims of trauma.

Parrish-Brown, who also serves as president of The Safe Center Long Island, has distributed her books to 2,000 students in New York City schools and was looking to expand to Long Island.

"This provides a space to come together and collaborate because we don’t always have a space to network and it’s truly exciting to be in the room," Parrish-Brown said.

By John Asbury

john.asbury@newsday.comJohnAsbury

John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.