Chattanooga boosts buys from minority firms

Chattanooga City Hall
Chattanooga City Hall
photo Chattanooga City Hall
The city of Chattanooga has more than doubled its share of purchases from minority, woman and veteran-owned businesses in the past year, Mayor Andy Berke said.

The Diverse Business Enterprise numbers for the first quarter of fiscal 2015 showed that 14.3 percent of city purchases went to minority, woman or veteran-owned businesses. The minority share was 4.4 percent; women-owned businesses accounted for 8.25 percent and veteran-owned businesses for 1.69 percent.

The rate was approximately 2 percent when Berke took office in April of 2013. And since Jan. 1, 2015, the city has spent more than $3 million with woman, veteran and minority-owned businesses (defined as African American, Latino and Asian).

"Because of the hard work of our Office of Multicultural Affairs and Purchasing Department, as well as a strong partnership with the Urban League, LAUNCH, and the Chamber of Commerce, we have made tremendous strides in how the City of Chattanooga does business," Berke said in the release. "Not only are we changing the way we do business, we are ensuring more opportunity for diverse businesses to participate in growing our local economy."

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