The Office of General Services encourages the participation of minorities and women in its procurement and building construction projects. Per Executive Law, Article 15-A, construction contracts in excess of $100,000 and consultant contracts in excess of $25,000 contain affirmative action requirements for the use of certified MWBEs as subcontractors and suppliers. Within five days after the bid opening, contractors and consultants must submit a utilization plan listing the certified MWBE firms the prime contractor/consultant will to use to comply with the contract's MWBE provision.
To support these efforts, only firms certified by the New York State Department of Economic Development as Minority-Owned Business Enterprises and/or Women-Owned Business Enterprises are accepted toward specific goal requirements.
The OGS Office of Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprises monitors each utilization plan to assess the "good faith" efforts for meeting contract MWBE goals. Each month, contractors/consultants are required to report payments to subcontractors and suppliers through the New York State Contracts System, which can be found at https://ny.newnycontracts.com.