During fiscal year 2018-2019, 11 percent of state government spending, nearly $800 million, on goods, services, and construction went to small diverse businesses, according to a Bureau of Diversity, Inclusion and Small Businesses Opportunities annual report.
The bureau creates a diverse, inclusive, and fair state contracting environment for small businesses, veteran-owned businesses, and small diverse businesses.
“The progress we’ve seen definitely brings us closer to our goal to do 26 percent of our business with small diverse businesses,” Curt Topper, State Department of General Services secretary, said. “A priority for us moving forward will be to implement programs to aid us in expanding the number of registered small and diverse businesses we have available to take advantage of the contracting opportunities we’re creating and the way we track our spending with them.”
During the fiscal year, 557 small diverse businesses were awarded contracts, small-business payments grew 46 percent to $303 million, and state payments to small diverse businesses increased 47 percent to $485 million.
Small diverse businesses are businesses owned by women, minorities, members of the LGBT community, individuals with disabilities, and service-disabled veterans.
The bureau next plans to begin a recruitment campaign and to implement more effective data collection and tracking system for contracting and payment interactions.