NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) – The City of Nashville announced they awarded over $111 million worth of city contracts to minority and women-owned businesses.
This is part of a strategic effort from the city to give different businesses new opportunities they may not have had access to before.
One of those businesses is Culture Architecture and Design.
“Culture is a full-service architecture and interior design firm based here in Nashville,” Culture CEO and founder Joseph Cole said. “We do everything from residential projects, so luxury multi-family to large-scale commercial projects.”
As a part of Metro Nashville’s Equal Business Opportunity Program, Culture was awarded a city contract.
”We’re working on the Metro water project, one of their administration buildings,” Cole said. “They’re investing in a long-term project to consolidate some of their office spaces.”
Nashville’s program pinpoints minority-owned and women-owned businesses for potential city projects.
It’s a shot Cole says they may not have gotten otherwise.
”We’re just looking for opportunity,” Cole said. “We have experience, but we’re looking for the opportunity to get a seat at the table.”
Cole said Culture and the over 100 other businesses affiliated with the program had to undergo a laborious process to be recognized as a minority or woman-owned business. Though the process was long, he says it was all worth it.
“The great thing about these programs is it creates opportunity for these black and brown businesses to land and expand,” Cole said. “That’s what we’re doing. We’ve landed a couple of projects and we plan to continue to grow our team.”
This is the fourth year of the program in the city. Mayor Freddie O’Connell said the program will continue to be a “critical resource” in the city’s collaboration with minority and women-owned businesses.
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