North Shore Hub To Promote Minority- and Women-Owned Businesses

SALEM, MA —Six North Shore cities and towns are combining on a new North Shore Diversity Catalog initiative designed to identify and promote minority- and women-owned businesses.

Beverly, Marblehead, Lynn, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott are collaborating on the project, which is aimed at diversifying access to municipal contacts and bids, as well as provide residents with a single, comprehensive catalog of those businesses.

"We in Beverly are excited to work together with our valued partners to promote equity by identifying additional talented individuals and qualified businesses who can bid on city work, ultimately ensuring more competition and consistently high value for the tax dollars we all invest on behalf of our communities," Beverly Mayor Mike Cahill said.

Salem's Race Equity Task Force and Beverly's diversity in public contracts helped develop plans for the directory.

"I'm pleased to partner with our colleagues in Beverly and Swampscott to launch the North Shore Diversity Catalog," Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll said. "In addition, I am grateful to the leadership of our own Race Equity Task Force members, who have identified and prioritized the need for our communities to be more intentional in how we use our purchasing power, as municipalities and as individuals, to better advance the cause of equity.

"I encourage all businesses and residents in our region to turn to the catalog, once it is published when planning their purchases and I invite other cities and towns in the region to join us in committing to use the catalog to bring more diversity to our own procurements."

The effort will include a series of virtual training programs with state procurement specialists to allow these businesses more opportunities for contacts and business.

"It is so important that we all take some time to support our region's (minority- and women-owned) businesses," Swampscott Town Administrator Sean Fitzgerald. "There are so many great MWBE businesses in our region and now is the time to show how we all can use the power of the purse string to invest in these businesses as we build a more inclusive future."

Businesses must be located on the North Shore and be at least 51 percent immigrant-, women-, minority-, veteran-, disabled- or lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender-owned. The catalog will be published on municipal websites and shared with community partners.

Those wishing to register can do so in English or Spanish here.

"Peabody is proud to partner with our neighboring communities to launch the North Shore Diversity Catalog," Peabody Mayor Ted Bettencourt said. "The Diversity Catalog will help encourage more equitable awarding of contracts in the marketplace and provide a valuable guide to minority- and women-owned businesses on the North Shore."

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(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)

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