Boston Budget Panel Grills OEOI on Supplier Diversity, Small Business Gaps

BOSTON — April 29, 2025 — Boston's City Council Ways and Means Committee heard budget testimony from the Office of Economic Opportunity and Inclusion Tuesday, with officials reporting $225 million in contracts awarded to diverse businesses in a single fiscal year — a city record — and diverse spending at 11.5 percent so far in FY25. Chief of Economic Opportunity and Inclusion Shigun Itewu confirmed that a new Supplier Diversity director, a position vacant since July 2024, has accepted an offer and will start in June. The Scale grant program awarded funds to 27 minority and women-owned businesses this fiscal year, with grants of up to $200,000 each, and 951 firms are now certified with the city. Councilor Gabriela Coletta Zapata pressed Itewu on national chains crowding out local businesses in East Boston storefronts, with Itewu acknowledging no citywide program yet exists to address the problem. Councilor Edward M. Flynn pushed for more data on veteran-owned business support, noting only 2 percent of certified firms are veteran-owned. The proposed OEOI contractor services budget rises to $3.2 million in FY26, up from $2 million budgeted in FY25.