The Cities of Salem, Beverly, Peabody, and Lynn and the Towns of Swampscott and Marblehead have partnered to launch the North Shore Diversity Catalog, a regional vendor registry for minority- and women-owned businesses (MWBE) in order to improve equity and diversity in municipal contracts and bids, and also provide residents and other businesses with a single, comprehensive catalog of such businesses.

The Diversity Catalog is both a directory and a marketing tool for businesses that wish to offer their services or products to other businesses and institutions within the North Shore region. It will additionally help member municipalities identify diverse businesses so they can pro-actively increase equity in City and Town procurement opportunities.

The initiative is an outgrowth of the work of the City of Salem’s Race Equity Task Force and the City of Beverly’s diversity in public contracts efforts. The collaborative regional effort also is planning to develop a series of virtual training programs with state procurement specialists so local MWBE businesses can learn how they can officially qualify to meet the Commonwealth’s MWBE designation, which opens even more opportunities for contracts and business.

Businesses who believe they qualify and would like to enroll in the North Shore Diversity Catalog are invited to complete the registration form, available in English and Spanish, at www.salem.com/diversitycatalog. Businesses must be located within the greater North Shore region and have at least 51% of the ownership team in at least one of the following categories: immigrant-owned, women-owned, minority-owned, service-disabled veteran-owned, veteran-owned, lesbian gay bisexual or transgendered (LGBTQIA) owned, disability-owned business enterprise.

The catalog will be published on the participating municipalities’ websites and shared with community partners in the region.

“I’m pleased to partner with our colleagues in Beverly and Swampscott to launch the North Shore Diversity Catalog,” said Mayor Kim Driscoll of Salem. “In addition, I am grateful to the leadership of our own Race Equity Task Force members, who have identified and prioritized the need for our communities to be more intentional in how we use our purchasing power, as municipalities and as individuals, to better advance the cause of equity. I encourage all businesses and residents in our region to turn to the catalog, once it is published, when planning their purchases and I invite other cities and towns in the region to join us in committing to use the catalog to bring more diversity to our own procurements.”

“We in Beverly are excited to work together with our valued partners to promote equity by identifying additional talented individuals and qualified businesses who can bid on city work, ultimately ensuring more competition and consistently high value for the tax dollars we all invest on behalf of our communities,” said Beverly Mayor Mike Cahill.

“It is so important that we all take some time to support our regions MWBE businesses. There are so many great MWBE businesses in our region and now is the time to show how we all can use the power of the purse string to invest in these businesses as we build a more inclusive future,” said Sean Fitzgerald, Swampscott’s Town Administrator.

“Peabody is proud to partner with our neighboring communities to launch the North Shore Diversity Catalog,” said Mayor Ted Bettencourt of Peabody. “The Diversity Catalog will help encourage more equitable awarding of contracts in the marketplace and provide a valuable guide to minority and women-owned businesses on the North Shore.”

“I am happy to join in this partnership with my North Shore Mayoral colleagues to establish a diversity catalogue,” said Lynn Mayor Thomas M. McGee. “This will be a useful resource to our local minority and woman owned businesses to advertise their services, to our constituents who want to support these businesses, and also furthers the City’s efforts for advancing racial equity.”