NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — The big game is about a year away but a big deadline for local businesses is at the end of March.
“Make sure you’re putting your best possible foot forward and give it your best shot. It’s all about opportunity,” said Chair of the Supplier Diversity Committee Kim Boyle.
Boyle, who is the Supplier Diversity Subcommittee of the Super Bowl 59 Host Committee in New Orleans, offered her emphatic encouragement to local disadvantaged businesses.
“Want to provide those opportunities to our local and diverse businesses because, bluntly, that’s what the city’s about. That’s what the NFL is about. That’s what the host committee is about, and that’s certainly what the Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation is about,” said Boyle.
Businesses can apply online at the Super Bowl Suppliers website. A significant qualification is that the company must have a Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Certification.
This is a step that could pose a problem for some businesses that have yet to certify.
Sinnidra Taylor’s non-profit “Friends of Codey’s” assists food entrepreneurs in various ways but points to the biggest issues some are facing.
“The DBE process is very document heavy, so just making sure that food entrepreneurs and other entrepreneurs its the same documentation. Are they prepared to produce that number of documents over a three-year period in order to be successful in the DBE process,” said Taylor.
With the March 31 deadline, the clock is ticking but there are also a host of opportunities in a variety of fields and Chincie Mouton from the Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation offers more advice to get your business connected.
“What the NFL looks for is businesses that have the capacity and capability to fulfill Super Bowl subcontracting opportunities so if you have experience in other events, put that in your application. If you worked Jazz Fest, if you worked Fried Chicken Festival, all those things matter so to really go into detail about your project and events experience,” said Mouton.
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