Port Houston launches business equity program
Port Houston has announced its new MWBE Business Equity Program and Initiative, receiving praise and support from Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner and Harris County Commissioners Rodney Ellis, Adrian Garcia, and other community and business leaders at Thursday’s official announcement that the newly-formed Houston’s Business Equity Division will lead this effort, according to the company's release.
Port Houston has created this new division to create greater equity for minority and women-owned business enterprises participating in its procurement and contracting processes.
A new initiative includes the Port Commission’s June adoption of a DEI Position Statement, reorganization in March of the Port Commission’s Procurement and Small Business Development Task Force as the Business Equity Committee, adoption of a new MWBE Development Policy in April, with an aggressive 30% aspirational goal for participation, and the creation of a strategic marketing plan for outreach about the new MWBE program to the community.
About Port Houston
For more than 100 years, Port Houston has owned and operated the public wharves and terminals along the Houston Ship Channel, including the area’s largest breakbulk facility and two of the most efficient and fastest-growing container terminals in the country. Port Houston is the advocate and a strategic leader for the Channel. The Houston Ship Channel complex and its more than 200 public and private terminals, collectively known as the Port of Houston, is the nation’s largest port for waterborne tonnage and an essential economic engine for the Houston region, the state of Texas, and the U.S. The Port of Houston supports the creation of nearly 1.35 million jobs in Texas and 3.2 million jobs nationwide, and economic activity totaling $339 billion in Texas – 20.6 percent of Texas’ total gross domestic product (GDP) – and $801.9 billion in economic impact across the nation.
