City of Bloomington launches MWBE equity initiative

IL News - Published Nov 22, 2023

The City of Bloomington has launched a new initiative,  the Bloomington Equity Advancement Program (BEAP), which aims to provide minority- and woman-owned business enterprises (MWBEs) with greater opportunities to participate in City contracting.

As part of the initiative, the City will now set aspirational MWBE participation goals on contracts valued at more than $50,000, which prime contractors will need to make good-faith efforts to meet. The current contract participation goal for MBEs, WBEs, and DBEs on such contracts is 8 percent of the total. The BEAP will also require bidders to complete and submit a Contract Diversity Goal Form along with the rest of their bid, describing their efforts to meet the goal and their utilization plan (as well workforce requirements that will also be part of the BEAP). The City is also planning to facilitate mentorship arrangement betweens primes and MWBEs as part of the initiative.

Find the City's page for the BEAP at https://www.bloomingtonil.gov/departments/administration/procurement-diversity-initiative.