Leveling the Playing Field for Minority- and Women-owned Businesses

Comptroller Thompson’s audit shines light on a problem that has plagued this administration for eight years. Women and minorities deserve every opportunity to compete for city contracts—-but, as my office found in 2007, a program designed to level the playing field has failed to do so. Of $11.2 billion in goods and services procured by the city in 2006, only $55 million went to certified women and minority businesses. Today’s audit shows that the city still falls short. Small Business Services (SBS) must do more to monitor whether city agencies are actually including M/WBEs in the procurement process.