Community to City: Let's Make a Deal?

According to New York City’s Department of Small Business Services, certification is a marketing tool that enhances the ability of small, local, minority and women-owned firms to do business with the agencies of the City of New York.  

The City’s certification programs, including the Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprise (M/WBE) Program, the Emerging Business Enterprise (EBE) Program and the Locally-based Business Enterprise (LBE) Program, certify, promote, and foster the growth of the City’s minority, women-owned, small and local businesses, including construction and construction-related businesses.

Currently, MWBE is the only certification mandated by the City for large contracts.

LBE and EBE certifications must be requested for inclusion in a contract by the community and even then, contractors are not bound to accept it.

This means construction projects like the $23.5 million that starts on Monday can do business in a community for years at a time, yet not have to hire anyone locally.

Should the City require that all multi million-dollar construction projects provide sub-contracts and work opportunities for the communities in which they work, or should that agreement be led and enforced by the community itself?