opinion-editorial
2022:The year of diversity contracting and opportunity
BY MANNY BURGOS
As the current year ends there is
much to be excited about in the world
of diversity in government-subsidized
development and construction.
The new governor has positioned
herself to be a champion of diversity,
and the incoming mayor has made
clear his intent to prioritize this
cause. Best of all, it appears that the
state and city will work together to
promote diversity.
Equally exciting is that developers
are certainly doing more to meet
diversity goals. The days are ending
when a developer simply passed on
diversity goals to its project’s builder
and washed its hands of this responsibility.
Looking at the past fi ve years
alone, there is strong data showing
that developers and builders have
moved in the right direction, with
some projects achieving over 200% of
assigned goals. Back in 2020, I wrote
about the disproportionate impact
that the pandemic had on MWBE
fi rms. 18 months later, many of these
contractors and suppliers have regained
their footing and are back in
There’s more. Government agencies
that award subsidies are better
at understanding the vital role they
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Assemblyman Michael Benedetto stands in front of the Throgs Neck Christmas tree.
File photo
Throggs Neck to hold
annual tree lighting
On Sunday, Dec. 5, join state Assemblyman
Michael Benedetto, the Throggs
Neck Business Improvement District, the
Deluca Family’s East Tremont Avenue
McDonald’s and the Crosstown Diner, as
they sponsor the Annual Throggs Neck
Tree Lighting at the DeRosa/O’Boyle Triangle.
The event will start at 5:30 p.m.
Santa will be presenting gifts, provided
by the Throggs Neck BID, to all children
in attendance. St. Benedict’s Choir will
perform seasonal tunes.
Community Board 10 member John
Marano and Assemblyman Benedetto’s
staff members John Korres and Matt
McKay, installed the tree, which was donated
by Tommy Accomando, Community
Board 10 member, who is also a merchant
selling Christmas trees on East
Tremont and Randall avenues.
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A DIVISION OF
play in supporting
projects
with diversity
requirements.
Just last
week our fi rm
reached out to
one, requesting
help identifying
fi rms for a specifi
c trade. We
received a list
within an hour! And elected offi cials
are doing more than just demanding
diversity on projects in their districts,
with many using their deep
community reach to broadcast contracting
opportunities.
Even lenders are taking up the
cause; some are requesting diversity
contracting plans upfront as a condition
of fi nancing.
With so many factors now in place,
the time is right for government’s diversity
contracting concept of “good
faith efforts” (truly a dreaded industry
term) to be redefi ned, realigned,
and reimagined, moved away from
the post-buyout checklist (hoping
that a project did “enough”) and instead
started robustly during the
earliest stages of planning. It’s time
for diversity to become an integral
part of the development
process.
Instead of
a patchwork of
diversity tactics
stitched
together with
varied participation
by each
project player,
it needs to be
tied together
into a holistic coordinated strategy.
Simply put, this “new and improved”
good faith efforts concept
only works if everyone involved—
developers, lenders, builders, government
agencies, and elected offi -
cials—plays its role to the fullest, not
with an attitude based on forced participation
(“Ugh, we gotta do this!”),
but instead one that wholly embraces
diversity with panache and aplomb
(“Yeah, we got this!”). The time is
now to organize diversity achievement
(“Go team!”).
Our fi rm is proud to have contributed
to hundreds of millions of dollars
awarded to MWBE fi rms working
in new and existing housing
and commercial developments. Our
compliance work puts the emphasis
rightly where it belongs—in early
outreach, hired to start our work
sometimes years before shovels are
in the ground. We’ve learned much
about what works and what doesn’t.
So, in the hopes of starting a discussion
on organized and holistic
diversity, we documented our experiences
and put them in a free publication,
Diversity Contracting: A
Guide for Developers, Builders, and
Contractors. Don’t let the title fool
you! Stakeholders like elected offi -
cials, government agencies, community
leaders, neighborhood residents,
even lenders, can benefi t greatly
from it by learning the process of diversity
contracting from many sides,
and the critical importance of intent
throughout it all. Click here to get
the free guide from BTN Consulting’s
website.
In one year’s time, I plan to write
a follow-up to this opinion piece, hoping
that my optimism in 2022 was
well placed. I’m happy to say that I
think it will be.
Manny Burgos is CEO of By the
Numbers Consulting Services Corp.,
a leading provider of outreach, compliance,
advisory, and data gathering
services. BTN Consulting serves the
tristate area with offi ces in New York
and Puerto Rico.
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