MTA Increasing Diverse Contracting Awards

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has announced its commitment to award a historic amount to historically underutilized businesses as part of its recently announced 2025-2029 Capital Plan, with $6.5 billion to $7.5 billion in contracts to be awarded to New York State Certified Minority- and Woman-Owned Business Enterprises (MWBE), Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Businesses (SDVOB), and/or Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBE).
 

In addition, MTA is committing to add 350 new businesses to its Small Business Mentoring Program over the next five years, which provides mentoring and financial support to grow the capacity of small businesses. MTA seeks to provide contracts to these small businesses—including up to $400 million—as part of its next capital plan. MTA also intends to certify another 300 firms as registered DBEs over the next five years.
 

Moreover, MTA is committing to add local hiring goals to $5 billion of contracts in the 2025-2029 Capital Plan, translating to thousands of union-wage jobs directly in the communities where projects are based. MTA’s current local hiring pilot—started in 2022 as enabled by federal guidance in President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law—has already led to the hiring of hundreds of people on projects based in Brooklyn and Queens.
 

To jump start these efforts, MTA hosted a recent networking event at the CUNY Graduate Center. Attended by more than 250 businesses, the event helped to facilitate connections among MTA prime contractors and potential MWBE subcontractors, as well as graduates of the MTA Small Business Development Program.
 

“We announced our next five-year capital plan this month and there’s a lot of work to be done,” said MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber. “When we talk about rebuilding and improving the transit system, this includes billions of dollars of work to be done by our diverse contracting community. As the fourth largest employer in the region, the MTA is proud to partner for an equitable and inclusive economy.”
 

“Beyond its essential role as a transportation agency, the MTA plays a huge role in the social and economic landscape of this city and region,” said MTA Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer Lourdes Zapata. “As an industry leader with the best-in-state MWBE/SDVOB contracting program, it is important we continuously look for ways to increase awareness, connections, and ultimately participation to ensure we’re doing our part in creating work and business opportunities that benefit our communities.”

 

“Today’s event fostered great conversation and opened contracting opportunities to businesses that are owned by minorities, women, and veterans with service-related disabilities,” said MTA Construction and Development President Jamie Torres-Springer. “In 2023, 37% of all MTA contracts awarded went to MWBEs. With our 2025-2029 Capital Plan, we look forward to providing more opportunities with more ambitious goals to meet.”

 

The MTA’s utilization of MWBE firms has led the state every year, with a record 37% in contract spend last year—the fourth consecutive year the MTA has exceeded the New York State MWBE goal. The MTA requires that all contracts have appropriate MWBE/SDVOB and/or DBE participation and with the MTA’s proposed $68.4 billion 2025-2029 Capital Plan expected to exceed the $62 billion statewide economic output generated by the 2020-2024 Capital Plan, the MTA will continue its record of creating jobs and opportunities, supporting thousands of vendors and manufacturers across the state.

 

Earlier this year, the MTA signed an "Equity in Infrastructure Project" pledge to support historically underutilized businesses, affirming its commitment to ensure participation on at least $1 billion of work by MWBE/DBE firms every year, expand the pool of MWBE/DBE firms the MTA works with, and increase discretionary contracts for design and engineering MWBE firms by 20% over the next five years.

 

In 2023, the MTA awarded over $813.5 million in contracts across more than 500 MWBE firms accounting for approximately 37% of overall contracts, in addition to the $392.3 million paid to DBE firms, and $16.7 million to service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses. The MTA also awarded nearly $70 million to small businesses through its Small Business Development Program.

 

The MTA has been a consistent state leader in working with MWBE firms, surpassing the New York State MWBE goal of 30% participation every year, and ranks number one of all New York State agencies and public authorities in dollars paid to MWBE firms.