Mayor Bowser and Councilmember Orange Announce Bold FY16 CBE Spending Goal

Mayor Muriel Bowser and Councilmember Vincent Orange held a press conference to announce the Fiscal Year 2016 (FY16) Certified Business Enterprise (CBE) spending goal.  The Bowser Administration also unveiled a new website, cbeconnect.dc.gov, that will help CBEs better navigate the local government procurement process.

The FY16 expendable budget for District government agencies is $634 Million, of which at least 50 percent, or $317 Million, must be spent with CBEs.  This feasible, but bold, spending goal is the result of a top-to-bottom, data driven analysis of past practices and current agency budgets.  

In FY15, the Bowser Administration spent more than $250 million through contracts with small businesses, which exceeded the total amount spent in each of the past five years. The FY16 goal reflects the Mayor's commitment to build on the District's progress, and to increase its support for small businesses.

Mayor Bowser launched cbeconnect.dc.gov to both increase transparency in the goal-setting process and help CBEs navigate the procurement process.  The website offers a user-friendly platform to search for procurement opportunities across District government. The Bowser Administration will also release an 'Opportunity Guide' with an agency-by-agency overview of CBE opportunities.