Tag: boston

Most private companies won’t air their financial laundry in public.
But the Government will and they have.

The diversity supplier marketplace exists for two reasons. 1) government regulations. 2) the marketplace demands diversity.

The Massachusetts state Supplier Diversity Office recorded  $991,590,145 in total Commonwealth spending attributed to its Supplier Diversity Office targeted minority business sector in FY2014 ( certified as MBEs, WBEs and SBPP goods, services and construction.)

Minority MBEs ( minority business enterprises ) sold $247,150,817 to the state. An amount of $574,818,148 was sold by Women Business Enterprise (WBE) to the state.  Another $16,263,222 went to MBE’s in direct construction related contracts from state buyers and $12,411,914 went to WBEs or white women owned companies in direct construction related contracts from state buyers.

See the Annual Report from the source.

Boston Mayor Walsh has hired a Diversity Chief to oversee where his tight $2.2B a year is going.

Firms owned by white women who apply for the state WBE SDO designation are being classified as certified WBE minority enterprises when approved. Other minorities are given MBE or M/WBE status.

The  Massachusetts Gaming Commission licensed vendor designation is a new group classifications for a business because the state has never had licensed casinos before. In the beginning, this new industry segment is pumping a collective $250 million per year into minority-owned firms.

You won’t be able to do much business with a casino in Massachusetts unless you get a license as a vendor from the gaming commissioners.

The Boston MBDA  Minority Business Development Agency has helped position minority companies with large federal source awards.

Early Morning Software has a DBE activity monitoring software product it sells to corporate and government procurement departments. $36 Billion annually is the US market size for diversity spend by these corporations that have to track it.

When the local MBTA agency buys product from a vendor, anything over $25,000 is bidded out but when its less, they choose to buy from vendors in the system. Companies should be certified DBE ( over $1 mil a year in sales ) to get the big bucks from the T.

The KEOLIS transportation company runs locomotives over Massachusetts commuter rail lines. Its Manager of Purchasing and Materials in concert with the KEOLIS  Director of DBE,EEO and Diversity intends to award 17% of its annual direct spend to the best minority DBE,WBE,MBE and SDVOB certified suppliers it can source if the incumbent purchasing managers release their grip on controls they hold close due to the hostile takeover by KEOLIS.

The Diversity SmartTrack online Massachusetts web site tracks 14,000 purchase orders flowing to and from buyers to minority vendors.

The City of Boston’s Economic Chief John Barros is working on splitting up a $1.8 billion capital budget for contract procurement into smaller sizes in the $100K range so that smaller companies have a better chance on winning some awards. The city’s total budget is over $20 billion dollars.

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission publicizes these diversity spend numbers:

Penn National Gaming is opening a slots casino  in Massachusetts and MGM is opening a casino in Springfield Massachusetts.  MGM set a goal of  $50 million per year budgeted for minority businesses. Penn will be spending millions on minority businesses too.

WYNN is opening a casino near Boston Massachusetts.  A DBE goal of 15% and up to $120 million per year  has been set by Wynn for doing business with minorities.

The money casinos bring to the table are in addition to the ambitious goals for minority business inclusion regional institutions such as the Boston Red Sox, Harvard University, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Raytheon, Bank of America and others have been working with for quite some time.

The Boston Minority Business Market size is sharply up over years past. It probably has surpassed minority spending levels the Big Dig Tunnel era claimed.