§ 52-0113 — Minority and women-owned business enterprise program

§ 52-0113. Minority and women-owned business enterprise program.\n 1. a. In the performance of projects pursuant to this article minority\nand women-owned business enterprises shall be given the opportunity for\nmeaningful participation. The department or the office shall establish\nmeasures and procedures to secure meaningful participation and identify\nthose contracts and items of work for which minority and women-owned\nbusiness enterprises may best bid to actively and affirmatively promote\nand assist their participation in the projects, so as to facilitate the\naward of a fair share of contracts to such enterprises; provided,\nhowever, that nothing in this article shall be construed to limit the\nability of the department or office to assure that qualified minority\nand women-owned business enterprises may participate in the program. For\npurposes hereof, minority business enterprise shall mean any business\nenterprise which is at least fifty-one per centum owned by, or in the\ncase of a publicly owned business, at least fifty-one per centum of the\nstock of which is owned by citizens or permanent resident noncitizens\nwho are Black, Hispanic, Asian or American Indian, Pacific Islander or\nAlaskan natives and such ownership interest is real, substantial and\ncontinuing and have the authority to independently control the day to\nday business decisions of the entity for at least one year; and\nwomen-owned business enterprise shall mean any business enterprise which\nis at least fifty-one per centum owned by, or in the case of a publicly\nowned business, at least fifty-one per centum of the stock of which is\nowned by citizens or permanent resident noncitizens who are women, and\nsuch ownership interest is real, substantial and continuing and have the\nauthority to independently control the day to day business decisions of\nthe entity for at least one year.\n The provisions of this paragraph shall not be construed to limit the\nability of any minority or women-owned business enterprise to bid on any\ncontract.\n b. In the implementation of this section, the department or the office\nshall consider compliance by any contractor with the requirements of any\nfederal, state, or local law concerning minority and women-owned\nbusiness enterprises, which may effectuate the requirements of this\nsection. If the department or the office determines that by virtue of\nthe imposition of the requirements of any such law, in respect to\ncapital project contracts, the provisions thereof duplicate or conflict\nwith such law, the department may waive the applicability of this\nsection to the extent of such duplication or conflict.\n c. Nothing in this section shall be deemed to require that overall\nstate and federal requirements for participation of minority and\nwomen-owned business enterprises in programs authorized under this\narticle be applied without regard to local circumstances to all projects\nor in all communities.\n 2. In order to implement the requirements and objectives of this\nsection, the department and the office shall establish procedures to\nmonitor the contractors' compliance with provisions hereof, provide\nassistance in obtaining competing qualified minority and women-owned\nbusiness enterprises to perform contracts proposed to be awarded, and\ntake other appropriate measures to improve the access of minority and\nwomen-owned business enterprises to these contracts.\n