City Colleges of Chicago announced that it is on track – for the second straight year – to surpass its minority-owned business (MBE) hiring goal by nearly 50 percent. As of the end of the third quarter, City Colleges spent $15.7 million with 65 MBE firms, equating to 37 percent out of a goal of 25 percent of total qualified spending.

Since the launch of Reinvention, City Colleges has significantly increased the number of MBE firms with which it does business. In fiscal year 2011, it contracted with 29 MBE firms; in fiscal year 2012, the number rose to 69. The number of women-owned businesses (WBE) firms rose from 20 to 57 over the same period, and through the first three quarters of fiscal year 2013 it has risen to 75. During fiscal year 2012, City Colleges spent $22.6 million with 69 MBEs, representing 37 percent of all eligible procurement spending. Final figures for FY2013 will be available in early fall.

With this record, City Colleges is exceeding its own MBE Plan, which ensures that certified MBEs have opportunities to participate in CCC contracts for commodities, professional services, technology, and construction. The Plan, detailed here, includes an annual MBE procurement spending goal of 25 percent. City Colleges has reached or surpassed that goal in each of the last five years.

City Colleges’ commitment to diversity in hiring has earned it the James C. Tyree Visionary Award from Chicago United for its “pioneering participation” in the Five Forward Initiative program, which aims to create local jobs through corporate expenditures with area minority-owned businesses (MBEs). City Colleges exceeded the 2012 Five Forward MBE spending goal, buying through minority firms more than five times the amount of goods and services required by the program.