As a woman entrepreneur in New Jersey and the president of the New Jersey Association of Women Business Owners (NJAWBO), I am keeping a close eye on the possible comeback of the state’s “set-aside” program.
This program has helped women and minority vendors to win millions of dollars in prime contracts awarded by the state. It required state agencies to make a good-faith effort to award 15 percent of all prime contracts to small businesses, 7 percent to qualified minority-owned businesses and 3 percent to qualified women-owned businesses.
New Jersey currently has 259,000 women business owners, grossing $69 billion in revenue.
There are so many women business owners across New Jersey who generate jobs and revenues to keep our economy healthy. Women are changing the landscape of business in New Jersey.
The key to the success of a program like this is accountability. Government agencies and corporations that are supposed to use a certain percentage of women and minority-owned firms often fall short of their required numbers. There are plenty of capable women business owners in the workforce who could fill these quotas.
Resurrecting the set-aside program could be beneficial to women business owners and to the state’s economy.
Sue Fitzpatrick
president, NJAWBO, and Fitzpatrick Printing Solutions Colts Neck