EXECUTIVE ORDER

No 8: ESTABLISHING THE MWBE EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP COUNCIL
AND THE MWBE CORPORATE ROUNDTABLE

WHEREAS, in 1988 New York State enacted a law establishing a comprehensive, statewide Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprise (“MWBE”) program; and 

WHEREAS, as of February 2007, the MWBE program certified 6,975 minority and women-owned businesses, and New York State awarded approximately $445 million in contracts to some of these businesses in the 2005-2006 fiscal year; and 

WHEREAS, approximately 23% of New York’s small businesses are owned by minorities and 26% of New York’s small businesses are owned by women, but only 3% of the state’s contracts were awarded to minority and women-owned businesses in the 2005-2006 fiscal year; and 

WHEREAS, New York’s economy must be open for all to participate; and 

WHEREAS, it is appropriate to take steps to ensure that state agencies and public authorities increase participation of qualified MWBE businesses in all state contracts; 

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Eliot Spitzer, Governor of the State of New York, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the State of New York, do hereby order as follows: 

B.   The MWBE Corporate Roundtable 

1.   There is hereby created an MWBE Corporate Roundtable (“Roundtable”) that shall seek to improve the participation of MWBE businesses in the state’s procurement process through recommendations made by corporate executives in the private sector. 

2.   The Roundtable shall consist of at least sixteen members appointed by the Governor, including the Lieutenant Governor, who shall chair the Roundtable, the Commissioner of the Department of Economic Development, the Director of the Division of the MWBE Development, and thirteen business executives representing corporations that have distinguished themselves by purchasing a significant percentage of goods and services from a diverse supplier base.  The corporate representation of the members shall reflect the diversity of contracting engaged in by the state. 

3.   The Roundtable shall meet at least quarterly and, based upon the success of the private sector’s supplier diversity programs, make recommendations to increase MWBE participation in state contracting, including but not limited to: (a) technology to facilitate and track MWBE contracting; (b) goal setting for MWBE utilization; (c) benchmarking for accurate recording of MWBE utilization; and (d) appropriate training of state procurement officers to ensure full understanding of the MWBE program.   

4.   The Roundtable shall annually prepare a written report of its findings on the first of November which shall be posted on the internet page of the Division of MWBE Development.
 

G I V E N under my hand and the Privy Seal of the State in the City of Albany this eighteenth day of February in the year two thousand seven.

    Eliot Spitzer, Governor

    Richard Baum, Secretary to the Governor