Houston Mayor Annise Parker today announced that a total of $339,651,389 in city contracts has been awarded to certified Small, Minority, Women and Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (S/MWDBE) companies in Houston during the 2012 fiscal year. This total comes from the recently published Office of Business Opportunity (OBO) Fiscal Year 2012 (FY2012) S/MWDBE Awards Report.

“This report shows the changes we have made in creating a competitive and diverse business environment in Houston,” said Mayor Parker. “I am extremely proud of this report. It is reflective of the great work done in City departments and their commitment to creating jobs and helping our local economy.”

The overall percentage of S/MWDBE awards given in FY2012 is 28.0%, the highest percentage of S/MWDBE awards given to certified vendors in the last seven years. According to the report, in FY2012 the City of Houston awarded $1,321,182,509 overall to firms for construction, professional services and purchasing agreements. Of this amount $339,651,389 were awarded to certified businesses.

“One of the initiatives set forth by Mayor Parker was to encourage historically underutilized firms to meaningfully participate in the city’s procurement process; we are proud of the achievements this report highlights.” said Carlecia D. Wright, OBO Director. “We look forward to helping more businesses grow and thrive in the Houston marketplace”

OBO produces bi-monthly updates to assist City departments with tracking the progress of the percentage of S/MWDBEs utilized on each of their contracts and non-contracts based on Citywide goals. The reports are published annually to reflect the dollars awarded to S/MWDBEs on City of Houston contracts and non-contract agreements. The FY2012 S/MWDBE Awards Report has new graphics and details the utilization of the awards by gender, ethnicity, contract type and certification type, which are broken down by department.

For more information about OBO visit www.houstontx.gov/obo. The FY2012 report and past reports are available at http://www.houstontx.gov/obo/reports.html.