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Asheville Business Inclusion Office outlines progress, disparity study goals
Summary
The city’s Business Inclusion Office (ABI) reported early gains in minority and woman‑owned business participation, described outreach and contractor matchmaking since Hurricane Helene, and explained how the disparity study informs aspirational goals and good‑faith‑effort standards.
Marcus Kirkman, the city’s Business Inclusion Manager, presented an overview of the Asheville Business Inclusion (ABI) program, review of the most‑recent disparity study, and early results from outreach since last spring.
Kirkman said the city has engaged with MWBE firms and partner agencies and reported utilization metrics: “According to the most recent utilization report dating back April of last year to January of this year, we have used, as a city, 46 MWB firms. This accounts for 2,650,000.00 in MWBE awards,” and he noted that amount represented an increase of roughly $500,000 over the prior year. When asked for the percentage of overall awards, Kirkman gave the utilization rate as “2.57%,” an increase from the prior period.
The nut…
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