A total of $73.1 million in contracts has been awarded by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) to New York State and New York City certified minority-owned, women-owned, disadvantaged and service-disabled veteran-owned (MWBE) vendors and across the country to procure the necessary equipment, supplies and professional services needed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The MTA awarded a total of 203 contracts to more than 26 businesses since the start of the pandemic in March.
The MTA has purchased an overall total of $230.1 million in COVID-19 related materials and services to distribute across New York City Transit, Metro-North Railroad, Long Island Rail Road, Bridges and Tunnels, MTA Bus Company, MTA Construction & Development and MTA Headquarters. A total of 32 percent of the MTA’s overall purchases went to minority-owned, women-owned, disadvantaged, and service-disabled veteran-owned businesses – materials and services were distributed across agencies as needed.
“The MTA has been a national leader on MWBE contracting and we are grateful to partner with so many valuable businesses to acquire the critical supplies and services we need to keep customers and our heroic employees safe during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Patrick J. Foye, chairman and CEO of the MTA. “We are committed to working with a diverse group of businesses and providing equal access and opportunity in every contract we award.”
The MTA purchased more than $57 million in cleaning and disinfecting services from these companies. Of the contracts awarded for these services, two were to minority-owned businesses, one to a woman-owned business and one to a service-disabled veteran-owned business.
The MTA also purchased more than $11 million in personal protective equipment, cleaning supplies and other miscellaneous goods from these companies. The contracts to acquire the materials were awarded to seven minority-owned businesses, one service-disabled veteran-owned business and 14 women-owned businesses. The personal protective equipment purchased from these companies includes more than 3.4 million disposable masks, 20,000 face shields and googles, 712,000 pairs of gloves and 57,000 Tyvek suits.
“This is an important milestone for the MTA and for all of the businesses we are able to work with,” said Michael J. Garner, chief diversity officer of the MTA. “The awarded contracts represent an important opportunity for underrepresented New York State certified minority-owned, women-owned, disadvantaged and service-disabled veteran-owned businesses to further prosper. It is the right thing to do. We exceeded our annual goal of awarding 30 percent of overall contracts to these businesses and look forward to what more we can do in the future during these challenging times.”
The MTA is responsible for procuring information technology, professional services, real estate and a broad range of commodities for all of its agencies. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the MTA has leveraged existing contracts as well as soliciting new services. MTA’s Office of Occupational Health Services (OHS) required the additional staffing of registered nurses, licensed practical nurses and social workers. The MTA was able to successfully incorporate the use of New York State certified minority-owned and women-owned businesses to provide medical staffing.
