The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) announced an initiative to support historically underutilized businesses as part of its newly unveiled 2025-2029 Capital Plan.
The MTA committed to awarding between $6.5 billion and $7.5 billion in contracts to New York State Certified Minority- and Women-Owned Business Enterprises (MWBE), Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Businesses (SDVOB) and Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBE), according to a press release.
MTA chair and chief executive officer Janno Lieber welcomed the initiative and said the agency is proud to work with diverse businesses to support a fair and inclusive economy.
“We announced our next five-year Capital Plan this month and there’s a lot of work to be done. When we talk about rebuilding and improving the transit system, this includes billions of dollars of work to be done by our diverse contracting community. As the fourth largest employer in the region, the MTA is proud to partner for an equitable and inclusive economy," he said.
The MTA said it plans to onboard 350 new businesses to its Small Business Mentoring Program over the next five years. The program offers mentoring and financial support to help grow small businesses, with the authority aiming to award up to $400 million in contracts to these businesses.
The MTA is also setting a goal to certify an additional 300 DBE firms within the same period. Moreover, the agency has pledged to implement local hiring goals for $5 billion worth of contracts, creating thousands of union-wage jobs in communities directly impacted by transit projects.
“As an industry leader with the best-in-state MWBE/SDVOB contracting program, it is important we continuously look for ways to increase awareness and participation to ensure we’re doing our part in creating opportunities that benefit our communities," said MTA Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer Lourdes Zapata.
In 2023, the MTA awarded $813.5 million in contracts to MWBE firms, comprising 37% of all awarded contracts.
