BUFFALO, N.Y. — A state-level program in support of minority and women-owned businesses to provide more contract opportunities has been rejuvenated with an effort to encourage more participation in various federal and state-supported projects and programs.
That state-run program will come under more scrutiny from a prominent state lawmaker from Buffalo.
From the projected thousands of jobs to build and operate the new Bills stadium, to the Kensington decking project and other road construction, or other government contracts for various professional services; there may be plenty of state contracts floating around in the upcoming months and years.
The MWBE or Minority and Women Business Enterprise program may provide a fair share of such work for firms certified with that minority or women-owned and operated status. Specifically, it may apply to state-supported goods and services contracts of $25,000 dollars or more and construction contracts of $100,000 dollars or more.
At a December forum on the subject one businessman told us, "not necessarily for myself but might be able to hand something down to my children so that they can not just make a life for themselves but create a life that they want to live."
The MWBE program runs through the State Division of Minority and Business Business Development under the Empire State Development Corporation umbrella. Executive Vice President and Director Jerome Duval has presented forums to urge more participation with more staffing assistance for the certification effort. The state says it just exceeds its 30 percent goal with 9,700 certified companies.
However other leaders say there is still a lack of such eligible firms coming forward. State Senator Sean Ryan of Buffalo is the new chairman of the State Senate's Commerce, Economic Development, and Small Business Committee. He wants to know why there are certification delays, "figure out why there is the delay and to make all that go faster."
On the other hand, there is another issue for Ryan with the program. "There's been fraud and abuse. We have to make sure that we have good due diligence from Empire State Development."