A Message from the Mayor-President (Q4 2022)

MOVEBR Program Achieves Increase in Diverse Small Business Participation

Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome

The MOVEBR Program has seen great progress this year, not only in its management efficiency, but also in achieving our participation goals by local small businesses. The program continues to move projects along, engage the public through various methods and ensure that small businesses are participating in an equitable manner throughout the process.

One of the key initiatives of this administration and this program has been to ensure that we engage small, minority, woman and veteran-owned businesses in the city-parish procurement process. These businesses deserve an opportunity to participate at a greater level within our economy. One of the catalysts for their engagement was the MOVEBR Program, through the Small Business Outreach Initiative. There has been a focus to ensure that small businesses are a part of the procurement process. The program set an initial aspiration of 20% small business participation. At the conclusion of the fourth quarter of 2022, over 25% of the program’s dollars, approximately $34M, have been spent with small minority, woman, and veteran-owned businesses. 

Since the implementation of the MOVEBR Program, which is primarily focused on design and construction services, the city-parish has launched its Socially & Economically Disadvantaged Business Program through the city-parish’s Division of Supplier Diversity, which will build upon what the MOVEBR Program has started. This division will be tasked with closing the disparity gap and establishing participation goals by contract type. It will have oversight of certification eligibility, contract compliance and business outreach, training and capacity building for local socially and economically disadvantaged businesses. This will involve gaining an understanding of the businesses within our community who are available to do the work and set specific goals for each contract based on that availability. For more information about the SEDB Program, you can visit https://www.ebrpsedbe.com/.