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Chamber urges City Council to make the M/WBE program deliver results

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September 23, 2026

The Manhattan Chamber of Commerce submitted written testimony to the New York City Council Committee on Contracts for its September 23 oversight hearing on M/WBE utilization in City contracts, along with Int. 208, Int. 694, and Int. 834.

The Chamber supports the City's M/WBE program but says it should be judged on results, and right now it falls short. In FY25, M/WBEs received about 8 percent of goal-covered contract value, down from nearly 17 percent the year before. Data from the Small Business Resource Network (smallbiz.nyc) shows the gap starts earlier: 79 percent of the businesses the network served over nine months are minority- or women-owned, but only about 3 percent hold M/WBE certification.

MCC called on the City to:

  • Complete and publish a new disparity study, the program's legal foundation, which was last done in 2018
  • Fix late contract registration and payment, which force small firms to fund City work on their own credit
  • Make fuller use of the M/WBE Small Purchase method
  • Pursue City–State certification reciprocity

The Chamber strongly supports Int. 694's community-based outreach requirements and offered recommendations to strengthen Int. 208 and Int. 834.

 

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