ASC's Intersections Newsletter — Week of August 24, 2021
Nora's Note
Today, Governor Kathy Hochul was sworn into office as the 57th governor of New York State and New York's first female governor. In this special edition of Intersections, ASC shares our best wishes to the new governor of New York and our optimism for the future of women- and minority-owned businesses under Governor Hochul's leadership. We'll be back with our regular edition just after Labor Day.
Governor Hochul is the right leader to raise New York's minority/women-owned business bar
Launching a new business in New York is deeply personal. The lift of new ideas, the freedom of fresh starts, the pride of self-direction and the gumption to brave arguably the most competitive market in the world – all too quickly are burdened by the weight of financial risk, skeptics' judgement, and the equally biting self-doubt.
Creating a business, forging opportunity for yourself and others, is even more daunting as a woman, who already face a gender wage gap of 84 cents to the dollar and an inequitable pool of opportunity. For racial minorities, that gap spans further still. And yet that New York spirit, the entrepreneurial drive to venture out into new territory remains strong – but needs more State support to continue thriving.
From renting a closet in another company's office on Arch Street upstate in Pawling some 28 years ago to our base of operations in Harlem today, public contracts have been central to my company's success. New York's intentional support of certified Women's Business Enterprises like my own helped me grow my company's ranks and provide strategic communications for nearly three decades.
Five years ago, Gov. Kathy Hochul told a room of women entrepreneurs they have a responsibility to mentor, sponsor and act as role models for those who follow in their footsteps. Now is the time to set our state's sights higher. If we combine breaking the glass ceiling with raising the bar on diverse contracts, New York's 57th governor will lead New York to even more equitable economic opportunity.
Credit where credit is due: New York has nearly reached its goal of 30% Minority/Women Business Enterprise participation on State contracts, going from just more than 23% in 2014 to 29.5% last year. Simple math, though, tells us more than 70 percent of New York's taxpayer-funded contracts do not involve minority- or women-owned businesses – meaning more work can and should be done. Gov. Hochul should be the one to do it, up to New York's commitment to equitable opportunity.
The simple nature of this moment tells us Gov. Hochul will serve as an example to women and girls in our state who might one day blaze their own trails to the governor's mansion. In every neighborhood of the City and State, each minority and woman business owner also stands as an inspiration to anyone who might follow in their footsteps, an impact that can be made more possible because New York made them a priority.
Gov. Hochul, a blue-collar product of Buffalo who has long supported these causes, also once said that investing in minority- and women-owned businesses is personal to her after helping her mom and sister start women-owned businesses of their own. Personal, indeed – there's no other way, whether you sit in a rented closet or the governor's mansion. With this groundbreaking new leader at the helm, let's make minority- and women-owned businesses personal for New York and reach substantially higher than 30%.
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