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Austin honors 20 years of diversity in contracting; SMBR names 2025 awardees
Summary
Austin proclaimed a Diversity Contracting Day and honored the 20th anniversary of its Small & Minority Business Resources program; SMBR director Edward Campos named this year’s awardees and highlighted the program’s history of recognizing more than 150 contractors and firms.
Vanessa Fuentes, Austin’s mayor pro tem and council member for District 2, opened a December City Hall ceremony by proclaiming a citywide Diversity Contracting Day and marking the 20th anniversary of the Small & Minority Business Resources (SMBR) program. "Small and minority owned businesses are not only vital to our local economy, they are the driving force of innovation and resilience," Fuentes said as she read the proclamation.
Edward Campos, director of the Austin Small & Minority Business Resources Department, accepted the proclamation and singled out the program’s 2025 honorees. Campos named Training Construction Builder as African American certified business of the year; Mario Carlin Management LLC and Frank Lam and Associates among Hispanic-certified honorees; Taylor Collective Solutions as the Asian-certified business of the year; Freeze and Nichols as women-certified business of the year; STR Construction LLC as contractor of the year; and Eric Bailey as the director’s award recipient. "When we support the diverse businesses in our community, we strengthen Austin's economy and secure a more vibrant future," Campos said.
The proclamation and Campos’s remarks noted SMBR has recognized more than 150 contractors, consultants and certified minority- and women-owned enterprises since the program began and described the city’s goal of expanding procurement access and advancing equity in contracting. The ceremony included a presentation of the proclamation dated 12/09/2025 and brief photo opportunities with honorees and city leaders.
SMBR and city staff urged continuing engagement with certified firms and partners; Campos thanked the mayor, council and the city manager’s office for ongoing support. No formal votes or policy actions were taken during the ceremony; the event functioned as a recognition and celebration of SMBR’s anniversary and the 2025 award recipients.
