Baltimore reports MWBE gains, seeks larger Main Street funding and legal fixes

Director Lundy, director of the Mayor’s Office of Minority and Women‑Owned Small Business Advocacy and Development, told a Baltimore City Council committee that the office increased certified MWBEs in fiscal 2024, expanded procurement reviews and contractor payments, and will seek budget and legislative changes to strengthen city support for minority- and women-owned businesses.

The report matters because the MWBE program channels city procurement dollars to local minority- and women‑owned firms and because the program faces both legal challenges at the national level and operational issues the office says it must address to expand opportunity across Baltimore neighborhoods.

Lundy said the office “increased the number of certified MWBEs by 185 year‑over‑year,” and that staff “oversaw the review and approval of 17 32 submissions totaling over 3,480,000,000.00 in procurement contracts.” Lundy also reported that active contracts resulted in approximately $20,800,000 paid to MBEs and $6,900,000 paid to WBEs in FY24. She credited the law department and the city solicitor, Ebony Thompson, for legal support in defending remedial civil‑rights elements of the program.

Lundy described planned changes to the MWBE program and related city code, saying she had completed a rewrite and…