Delivered May 1, 2015 This content is archived.
Good morning, and welcome to UB’s Educational Opportunity Center!
UB is very proud once again to host the Second Annual MWBE Opportunities Expo—in partnership with Empire State Development’s WNY Regional Office and the Erie County Medical Center.
I can’t think of a better venue to host this event than the beautiful new home of UB’s Educational Opportunity Center. Many of you already know that this building is named in honor of the Honorable Arthur O. Eve, a great champion of educational, economic, and social equality, who did so much to enrich our region and state during his distinguished career in the New York State Assembly. This beautiful new facility in the heart of UB’s downtown campus is ensuring for generations to come that the EOC will continue to help provide the opportunities for our community that Arthur Eve envisioned.
The EOC plays a key role in enriching the educational and vocational opportunities that will come with the knowledge-based economy we are building in our region. Those objectives are critically important to UB’s mission as a leading public research university. And expanding MWBE (Minority and Women Owned Business Enterprise companies) participation is a key part of that—working in partnership with government, with our community leadership, and with business and industry.
As part of that endeavor, UB is strongly committed to increasing MWBE participation by fostering the growth and sustainability of minority and women-owned firms. For example, several years ago, we formally implemented a Supplier Diversity Program to increase access to economic opportunities for MWBE business enterprises and diversity suppliers. And I am very proud to say that UB has for many years performed well above the SUNY mean and New York State requirements in terms of construction bids awarded for our many new building projects.
One excellent example is the new medical school building that is going up just a short distance from where we stand. This is a massive, $375 million project encompassing 650,000 square feet—and planned to house 2,000 faculty, students, and staff. This construction is guided by an approved MWBE utilization plan:
This is consistent with UB’s record as a leader in expanding MWBE participation. Over the past two fiscal years (FY ‘2013 and 2014), UB spent nearly $21 million on MWBE firms. Our average MWBE spending across the 2014 fiscal year was 32%. That is just a snapshot of our commitment to expanding MWBE participation—a commitment that continues to be a guiding priority as we make steady progress in building the 21st century physical environment to support our academic vision.
This effort, as always, is a partnership. We are very grateful to have such strong partners in this effort—from the City of Buffalo and our region’s elected leadership to Empire State Development and the Governor’s office.
Thank you all for joining us today to continue the dialogue and the partnership through the panel discussions and workshops planned throughout the day.
We are looking forward to another great event as we launch the second annual MWBE Opportunities Expo.
