Metro Boosts Participation of Minority and Women Owned Businesses

A year ago there were only a handful of minority and women owned businesses ready to go to work for Metro, now there are hundreds.

Last summer, Nashville Mayor Karl Dean signed a law aimed at boosting how many city contracts were being awarded to those businesses. Before the law only 30 were certified and registered with Metro. Now, there are 435.

Dean also set up an office to help business owners with loans, marketing and other necessities that can act as barriers to success. Michelle Lane is the director of that office and has spent much of her time recruiting.

“We’ve been beating the streets, shaking the bushes to get these folks available to the city.”

The next step is getting businesses up to speed on how to get a contract. Ann Collins has owned McLemore Water Meter Incorporated since 1999 and tried, unsuccessfully, to get contracts with the city twice. Finally this year, with Dean’s program, she got one with the water department.

“I attend the classes, and of course with their help, that’s the reason I’m here. They stayed on me because I stayed on them.”

Next month the city will have data showing how many of the 435 minority and women owned businesses registered with the city actually won contracts.

WEB EXTRA:

A couple years ago, studies showed white men owned most of the firms being awarded contracts with Metro Nashville. To level the playing field, Mayor Karl Dean signed a law requiring primary contractors to make a good faith effort in including minority owned businesses as subcontractors by dividing up jobs into a manageable size.

Primary contractors must send written notice to at least three minority and women owned businesses that may be interested in the job.

Mayor Dean also wanted to recruit more small businesses to get in on city contracts. In the last year, the number of eligible small businesses ready to work with the city has increased from just over 300 to 700.

The definition of a small business varies depending on industry, and is determined by yearly sales and number of employees. To see more on Metro’s definition of a small business click on this link.