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Ohio again
Exceeds 15 Percent Minority Business State Purchasing
Standard
Special to The Truth
For the third consecutive year, the State of Ohio has
exceeded the goal of its Minority Business Enterprise (MBE)
program by purchasing 23.65 percent of eligible goods and
services through certified minority-owned businesses, while
spending just over $305 million. Ohio’s MBE program mandates
that state agencies set aside 15 percent of its annual
purchases for goods and services for certified
minority-owned businesses.
“During the current administration, Ohio has made diversity
among its suppliers standard business, meeting set-aside
goals for the first time since the program was established
in 1980, when Governor Kasich was a member of the Ohio
General Assembly,” said Gregory L. Williams, state equal
employment opportunity coordinator and deputy director of
the Equal Opportunity Division of the Ohio Department of
Administrative Services, which certifies businesses into the
MBE program.
“Our goal is to assist entrepreneurs, through this program
and others, to develop their businesses to compete in the
broader marketplace,” Williams added.
Out of the eligible expenditures for goods and services
purchased during Fiscal Year (FY) 2017, a total of 20.80
percent was set aside for MBE-certified businesses. Another
2.85 percent of eligible goods and services was purchased
from MBE-certified businesses through open-market contracts.
Ohio’s Equal Opportunity Division oversees the MBE program
and helps to ensure equal opportunity access to and fair
treatment in government contracting. It strives to maximize
contracting opportunities through certification of
minority-owned, women-owned and socially and economically
disadvantaged businesses.
"It's about sustainability and creating more opportunities
for all Ohioans," said Jeffrey L. Johnson, chief of the
Minority Business Development Division at the Ohio
Development Services Agency. "By meeting the law, we
continue to move Ohio forward in diversity and inclusion
while growing minority businesses across the state."
Background
On Dec. 17, 1980, House Bill 584 was signed into law,
establishing the MBE program, which mandated that state
agencies set aside 15 percent of their annual purchases for
goods and services for certified minority-owned businesses.
As a member of the General Assembly in 1980, Governor Kasich
voted to support House Bill 584 and after becoming Ohio’s
governor made its achievement a priority of his
administration.
Since 2011, the state has made steady progress in
identifying set-aside opportunities, certifying
minority-owned businesses and matching them with state
contract opportunities. State agencies, boards and
commissions now produce annual spending plans that project
set-aside contract and procurement opportunities for
qualified MBE-certified businesses, the aggregate value for
which is at least 15 percent. In 2015, Ohio reached the 15
percent goal for the first time and has continued to do so.
In addition to MBE set-aside contracts, many minority-owned
firms have secured state contracts through the open market
by bidding against non-minority firms.
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