Adams also wants to streamline the certification process for MWBEs—which also would need approval in Albany.
Bishop said that when he started at SBS 13 years ago, the discretionary limit for MWBEs was $20,000, meaning any city contract greater than $20,000 would head out for bid on the open market. He advised the Adams administration during their transition on MWBE policy and emphasized that city agencies have been more willing to contract with MWBEs as their ability to offer them more lucrative, no-bid contracts has improved.
“We saw an increase in utilization of MWBEs when agencies had flexibility,” he said. “The portfolio of firms is much larger in terms of companies that can bid, so it’s the right time to be aggressive in this area.”
Under Mayor Bill de Blasio, the number of certified MWBEs in the city rose from 3,460 in 2014 to more than 10,500 by the end of 2021. But the share of MWBE contracts awarded by the city did not rise as fast. Of the $30.4 billion in total contracts awarded by the city in fiscal 2021, only $1.16 billion—3.8%—were awarded to MWBEs, the lowest total since city procurement reached 2.7% in 2013.
Spending also lagged under de Blasio. Only 16% of MWBEs received city dollars in the fiscal year that ran from July 2020 to June 2021.
More than one reform
Former City Comptroller Scott Stringer regularly took de Blasio to task for his low MWBE procurement numbers in the eight years their offices overlapped. The former comptroller said he believes Adams is proposing “very worthwhile changes” but needs to do more, notably hire a chief diversity officer at every city agency.
“At the end of the day, these are good, important measures, but there has to be a wholesale change in the way we do procurement with MWBEs, because the needle does not move,” Stringer said. “We need a stand-alone plan to smash the glass ceiling. Incrementalism is choking the businesses and the communities.”
Adams has more than one reform in mind for MWBEs. He also wants the Mayor’s Office of MWBEs to work with the New York City Housing Authority to create prequalified lists, or PQLs, of certified MWBEs that would give them expanded opportunities to bid within NYCHA’s $2 billion annual procurement budget.
There is no shortage of opportunities to contract with NYCHA. Gregory Russ, NYCHA’s president and CEO, testified at a City Council hearing last week that the capital repair needs at the city’s public housing authority are growing at a rate of $1 billion per year.
The mayor wants to expand PQLs beyond NYCHA and use them at all city agencies. His Office of MWBEs would strategically target areas within city government where spending can flow directly to proven MWBE contractors.
“With NYCHA, you have everything from regular household improvements to complex boiler repairs, and you have all types of work that I think the smaller MWBEs can benefit from,” Bishop said. “I’m really excited to see the prequalified strategy move to other agencies, especially agencies with the variation of work you’re going to see with NYCHA.”
Certification changes
The certification process for MWBEs requires different applications for the city and state, and there are no standard approval timelines. The Port Authority and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority have different processes for certification. Adams wants to create “certification reciprocity” for any firm that is already certified by the city.
Advocates argue improving certification isn’t nearly as urgent as improving procurement.
“Procurement is where the rubber meets the road, and a lot of our MWBEs don’t know how to get in the game,” said Randy Peers, president and CEO of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce. “We’ve helped them through the certification process, but it’s always, ‘I got certified and then what?’”
