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City reports 2024 MWBE improvements: 51 prime awards and 35% overall target for program spend
Summary
The Office of Business Diversity reported that in fiscal 2024 the city awarded 134 contracts under the program, 51 of them to MWBE prime contractors; staff said the program hit a 35% MWBE participation target on cumulative spend and described outreach and training efforts for small and veteran‑owned firms.
Erica Thompson, director of the Office of Business Diversity, presented Arlington’s fiscal 2024 Minority‑ and Women‑Owned Business Enterprises (MWBE) report and described both contract awards and spend figures, plus outreach and vendor support programs.
The core numbers
- Awards: For fiscal year 2024 the city recorded 134 contracts under the MWBE program threshold; of those, 51 contracts (about 38% of awards) were to MWBE prime firms. Thompson said previous years showed similar activity (FY22: 133 awards, 57 MWBE primes; FY23: 113 awards, 50 MWBE primes).
- Spend and goals: Staff reported 272 contracts with spend activity in FY24 and an MWBE achievement goal of 35% for that pooled spend. The breakout by ethnicity in FY24 spend included Asian American firms (13.58%), African American firms (13.13%), Hispanic firms (31.76%), Native American (1.84%), and women‑owned businesses receiving 39.69% of MWBE spend.
- Subcontracting and pipeline: The office tracks subcontract participation and reported numerous MWBE subs participating on prime contracts (for example, more than 70 Hispanic subcontract instances and over 200 women‑owned firms active as primes or subs across program and non‑program spend). The report separates program spend (contracts over $50,000 that fall under MWBE goals) from non‑program spend (local agreements, small purchases) and noted a modest decline in non‑program MWBE spend.
Outreach and vendor assistance
Thompson described a suite of outreach activities in FY24: 35 monthly meetings with city organizations, five business diversity workshops, supplier meetings, attendance at 12 construction expos, 28 one‑on‑one vendor consultations and a business master class with Prosperity Bank. She said 916 new vendors registered in the city’s IronWave vendor portal in 2024 (228 were MWBE; 61 were Arlington‑based).
Vendor testimony
The presentation included brief vendor testimonials (unnamed vendors) describing the program as an important lifeline for small firms and praising city staff outreach and the Prosperity Bank partnership, which included a class with loan‑application support and an account matching pilot.
Council reaction and next steps
Council members praised the office’s work and asked staff to continue expanding outreach across city districts and to begin a veteran‑focused initiative for business formation and certification. Thompson said fiscal‑year 2025 programming will include veteran business support, cooperative agreement training and continued supplier meetings.
Ending
Thompson said the MWBE office will continue data tracking and will publish outreach event dates so council members can promote participation in their districts.
