$24 Million in Total Purchases Shows Significant Gains with Groups Over 2011 Totals

ERIE COUNTY, NY— Today, the Erie County Department of Purchasing, along with the Office of Equal Employment Opportunity, announced the 2012 Minority & Women Vendor Usage report for businesses working on County contracts. The numbers reflect the participation of Minority & Women owned businesses on County contracts in construction, services and material purchases. Total purchases in 2012 totaled $24,107,447.00.

“Erie County will continue to reach out to minority- and women-owned businesses and look for their participation in county contracting,” said Erie County Executive Mark C. Poloncarz. “They are valued partners in building our economy and we hope that more of these businesses will consider contracting with the county as they grow in our community.”

The 2012 Purchasing Report includes the following information: Women-owned businesses accounted for $2,245,355 in contracts, or 9.30% of total contracts; this is up from the 9.00% these businesses accounted for in 2011. Black/African-American businesses accounted for $663,893 in contracts, or 2.80% of total contracts; this is significantly up from the 0.60% these businesses accounted for in 2011. Hispanic-owned businesses accounted for $149,496 in contracts, or 0.62% of total contracts; this is up 0.10% from 2011. A slight dip was seen in American Indian-owned businesses, which accounted for $106,405 in contracts or 0.44% of total contracts in 2012, down from 0.70% in 2011. Another slight dip was noted in Asian American-owned businesses, which accounted for $238,820 in contracts or 0.99% of total contracts in 2012, down from 1.10% in 2011.

Jesse Burnette, Director of the Office of Equal Employment Opportunity, said, “As we have seen, the County Executive has made it a priority of his administration to ensure a greater commitment to the utilization of minority and women-owned businesses in our procurement and contract practices through increased outreach, enhanced transparency and effective monitoring of progress in these areas.”