| Salem, Beverly, Peabody, Lynn, Swampscott, and Marblehead Launch North Shore Diversity Catalog
Minority and women-owned businesses invited to register for municipal, community contracts
The Cities of Salem, Beverly, Peabody, and Lynn and the Towns of Swampscott and Marblehead have partnered to launch the North Shore Diversity Catalog, a regional vendor registry for minority- and women-owned businesses (MWBE) in order to improve equity and diversity in municipal contracts and bids, and also provide residents and other businesses with a single, comprehensive catalog of such businesses.
The Diversity Catalog is both a directory and a marketing tool for businesses that wish to offer their services or products to other businesses and institutions within the North Shore region. It will additionally help member municipalities identify diverse businesses so they can pro-actively increase equity in City and Town procurement opportunities.
The initiative is an outgrowth of the work of the City of Salem’s Race Equity Task Force and the City of Beverly’s diversity in public contracts efforts. The collaborative regional effort also is planning to develop a series of virtual training programs with state procurement specialists so local MWBE businesses can learn how they can officially qualify to meet the Commonwealth’s MWBE designation, which opens even more opportunities for contracts and business.
Businesses who believe they qualify and would like to enroll in the North Shore Diversity Catalog are invited to complete the registration form, available in English and Spanish, at www.salem.com/diversitycatalog. Businesses must be located within the greater North Shore region and have at least 51% of the ownership team in at least one of the following categories: immigrant-owned, women-owned, minority-owned, service-disabled veteran-owned, veteran-owned, lesbian gay bisexual or transgendered (LGBTQIA) owned, disability-owned business enterprise.
The catalog will be published on the participating municipalities’ websites and shared with community partners in the region. |
