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BALTIMORE, MD. (APRIL 24, 2013) – Today, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings Blake announced the release of a report from the Mayor’s Council on Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprises. The advisory council—formed in 2012 and comprised of local business leaders and nationally-renowned experts—examined best practices and suggested improvements to the City’s minority and women-owned business enterprise (MWBE) program, creating a platform for the program’s future direction.
The final report highlights the shortcomings of the current MWBE program and recommends a new agenda for the City to accelerate and strengthen the rebuilding of Baltimore’s local economy through purposeful economic inclusion of all segments of its business population. Suggested improvements to vendor payment, procurement law, contract administration, and contract monitoring are included, along with proposals for pilot programs to stimulate business and job growth in communities.
“For us to produce innovative and competitive new companies in Baltimore, we must address long-standing impediments to growth, and better position homegrown companies to become economic giants of the next generation,” said Mayor Rawlings-Blake. “Most importantly, we need to leverage our resources to make sure the benefits of economic growth extend to all of our communities."
The advisory council recommends forming tasks forces to develop the pilot programs to support business growth. Pilot program proposals include the Green, Healthy, and Sustainable Homes Project; Urban Solar Initiative Pilot Project; and the Innovation Cluster or Technology Initiative.
The advisory council was chaired by businessman and author Robert L. Wallace of BITHGROUP Technologies. Businesswoman Maria Welch Martinez, CEO of Respira Medical, served as vice-chair. The advisory council was comprised of 23 members of the business community, as well as representatives from the City Council and state legislature. The advisory council held public forums with residents and business owners to discuss the effectiveness and challenges of current MWBE policies and programs.
“I am humbled by contributions of Mayor Rawlings-Blake and the members of the Advisory Council have made to strengthen the City’s commitment to creating an environment where all businesses, particularly women and minority-owned firms, can prosper and provide sustainable economic value to the community,” added Wallace. “I am confident that when the recommendations from the Advisory Council are fully implemented, that the impact of these recommendations will be felt not only by the business owners themselves, but by our citizens who will have new opportunities to participate in the economic prosperity of the City of Baltimore.”
“The Advisory Council’s recommendations establish a roadmap for focused economic inclusion,” said Sharon R. Pinder, Director of the Mayor’s Office of Minority and Women-Owned Business Development. “Once implemented, this strategy will not only change the trajectory of the minority and women-owned business program in the City of Baltimore, but will actually transform the wealth creation dynamics of the City”
To download a copy of the report, visit: www.baltimorecity.gov/files/Advisory Council Report - A New Day A Better Way.pdf.
Mayor’s Advisory Council on Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprise Membership
- Chair: Robert Wallace, CEO, Bithgroup Technologies
- Vice-Chair: Maria (Welch) Martinez, CEO, Respira Medical
- Roger Campos, executive director, Minority Business Roundtable
- Robert Fulton Dashiell, Esq,, of counsel, Harris Jones and Malone, LLC
- Lamon Harris, director, Small Business Development, Associated Builders and Contractors, Inc.
- Lisa Harris Jones, Esq., founder and member, Harris Jones and Malone, LLC
- Danielle Hardy, vice president, Associated Builders and Contractors, Inc.
- Anwer Hasan, senior vice president, Louis Berger Company
- Bert Hash, president and CEO, MECU
- Councilwoman Helen Holton
- Larry Jennings, senior managing director, ValStone Partners
- Kevin Johnson, president, Commercial Interiors, Inc.
- Eun “Ann” Kim, founder and president, Korean Business Enterprise Association
- Franklin Lee, Esq., partner, Tydings and Rosenberg
- Cidalia Luis-Akbar, president, M. Luis Construction Co. (Natalia representing the company)
- Jeanette Partlow, president, Maryland Chemical Company
- Henry Posko, CEO, Humanim (representing Henry is Cindy Plavier-Truitt)
- Delegate Barbara Robinson, Maryland General Assembly
- Anthony Robinson, Esq, CEO, MBELDEF, Inc.
- Donna Stevenson, president, Early Morning Software
- Shelonda Stokes, president and CEO, greibo Media
- Lt. Col (Ret.) Richard Sutton, retired military and retired corporate executive from HP/EDS
- Stanley Tucker, CEO, Meridian Management Group
- Sharon R. Pinder, director, Mayor’s Office of Minority and Women-Owned Business Development
Ex-Officio Members
- Steve Sharkey, director, Baltimore City Department of General Services
- Diane Bell-McKoy, president and CEO, Associated Black Charities
- Harry Black, director, Department of Finance
- Earnest W. Burkeen, Jr., director, Department of Recreation and Parks
- Kimberly Clark, executive vice president, Baltimore Development Corporation
- Thomas Corey, chief, Minority and Women’s Business Opportunity Office
- Alfred Foxx, director, Department of Public Works
- Donald Fry, president and CEO, Greater Baltimore Committee
- Paul Graziano, commissioner, Department of Housing and Community Development
- Zenita Hurley Wickham, special secretary, Governor’s Office of Minority Affairs
- Lance Lucas, Greater Baltimore Black Chamber of Commerce
- Brenda McKenzie, president and CEO, Baltimore Development Corporation
- George Nilson, city solicitor, Department of Law
- Charles Owens, executive director, Baltimore City Chamber of Commerce
- Odette Ramos, Baltimore Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
- Keith Scroggins, chief financial officer, Baltimore City Public Schools
- Thomas Stosur, director, Department Planning
- Paul Taylor, executive director, Small Business Resource Center
- Kumasi Vines, chief, Office of Boards and Commissions, Department of Public Works
- William Vondrasek, chief of parks, Department of Recreation and Parks
- Khalil Zaied, deputy chief of operations, Office of the Mayor
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