The City of Albuquerque spends around $400 million a year on purchasing goods and services. About 65 percent of that already goes to local businesses in Albuquerque, including Diverse Office Supply, a partnership of two woman-owned Albuquerque businesses — one a manufacturer of office supplies, where 60 percent of its employees are adults with special needs, and the other a distributor. Albuquerque’s city code already had local and small business preferences in city purchasing for contracts that require a public bidding process. It defines “local” as having a headquarters and principal office in Albuquerque or the surrounding Bernalillo County, and “small” as having fewer than 50 employees. The process targets smaller purchases for local small business vendors that has the additional knock-on effect of tilting the playing field ever-so-slightly in favor of businesses owned by women and people of color.
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