Los Angeles Now Largest City In US To Formally Include LGBTQ Businesses

Cities are beginning to see the effects of allowing diverse business owners to come in and be a part of their communities, reports CNBC.

The city of Los Angeles will be the largest municipality, by both population and economy, to formally include LGBTQ-owned businesses in the city’s billions of dollars in contract procurement. Reports show that similar contracts in LA amount to as much as $8 billion over roughly 40 departments.

The move follows the inclusion for LGBTQ-owned businesses earlier this year in procurement processes for Orlando, Nashville and Baltimore. Nashville became the first city in the south to recognize LGBT-owned business contributions to the city by an executive order of the mayor’s office.

Federal and local governments have long built into contract procurement opportunities for minority-owned and women-owned businesses. Nationally, certified LGBT businesses contribute $1.7 trillion to the U.S. economy and create more than 33,000 jobs, according to the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC).

Written by The Fight