New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. today launched an on-line resource dedicated to helping minority- and women-owned businesses (M/WBE) more easily identify procurement opportunities with the City of New York.

“Many minority-owned and women-owned businesses still remain unaware of the City procurement opportunities available to them,” Thompson said. “This new warehouse of information is a win-win: It will improve transparency in the competitive bidding process for city contracts and foster opportunities for minority- and women-owned businesses to increase revenue during these tough economic times.”

A comprehensive list of open Requests for Proposals (RFPs) – available at http://comptroller.nyc.gov/mwbe/mwbe.shtm – will be updated bi-weekly, and will include listings from all city agencies, brief descriptions of the potential contracts, PIN numbers, and agency contact information.

Thompson launched this system to allow people and businesses to view available contracting opportunities for certified Minority- and Women-owned Businesses Enterprises. Under Local Law 129 of 2005, all City agencies are encouraged to buy more goods, construction, and services from certified M/WBEs. 

“In working with the business community, we determined that a lack of information was one of the obstacles faced by minority- and women-owned businesses,” Thompson said. “This online system is an effort to help address those concerns.”

In addition to the online list of opportunities, the Comptroller’s office will circulate an email bi-weekly outlining newly-available M/WBE procurement opportunities to a wide range of organizations, including but not limited to: M/WBEs, Community Boards, libraries, Business Improvement Districts, Chambers of Commerce, and local economic development corporations. Any organizations or individuals that would like to receive the email updates can sign up at www.comptroller.nyc.gov.

“It is vital that we continue to improve efforts to promote opportunities for minority- and women-owned businesses,” Thompson said.

As custodian and investment advisor to all five of the City’s pension funds, Thompson has demonstrated a serious commitment to fostering opportunities for women- and minority-owned firms to conduct business with New York City, with a particular focus on capital market activities. Under his leadership, the amount of New York City Pension Fund assets managed by women- and minority-owned firms has more than tripled.

During his tenure, Thompson also has spearheaded the creation of the largest Emerging Managers program in the United States. With the approval of the New York City Pension Funds, Thompson implemented a $175 million allocation to a groundbreaking Emerging Managers program targeting first-time funds, particularly those managed and owned by women and members of minority groups.

###