Governor Wolf Launches Study To Level Playing Field For Small Diverse Businesses
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf has launched a study to make sure that businesses with minorities, women, LGBT or disabled owners are getting a fair share of state business.
The study kicked off Wednesday with a hearing in city council chambers.
Of the billions of dollars in contracts the state awards, Governor Wolf says he found that in the year before he took office, just 5.7 percent went to diverse small businesses.
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"If we want Pennsylvania's economy to be firing on all cylinders, we need to make sure that we are providing opportunities for everyone based on merit, based on what they can do rather than who they know or what they did before," Wolf said. "A system that only allows known and familiar faces to succeed is a system that misses out on its best chance to grow and thrive.
Wolf says he's worked to increase that number. It's up to eight percent. He acknowledges the state could do better. He says that's the reason for the study.