Task force held its first meeting
on Tuesday
WHITE PLAINS – Over 40 percent of Westchester County’s residents qualify as minorities or women and with $1.5 billion in capital projects, county officials are encouraging more to avail themselves of opportunities to provide services to the county.
With that in mind, County Executive George Latimer created a Minority and Women Owned Businesses Task Force.
Following its first meeting on Tuesday, one of its members, Liz Velez, president of Velez Organization, said minority and women owned businesses bring diversity to the county.
“It is inclusivity so that all of our communities are affected. It increases also competitiveness throughout, so by focusing on MWBE inclusion, and I am a second-generation construction firm – we’ve been in business for about 50 years – we have always proudly worn our MWBE certification,” Velez said. “What that provides for us is an opportunity to get in the door, and so to be able to provide those opportunities to other MWBE firms here in Westchester is going to be incredibly impactful.”
Deputy County Executive Kenneth Jenkins is chairing the new county task force. “We need to make sure we are doing the outreach that is necessary to help identify opportunities for businesses here in Westchester,” he said.
