Massachusetts spending with small and diverse businesses more than doubles to $4.5 billion. Cape Ann's share of state contracts: 0.15%

Commonwealth of Massachusetts state agencies and departments spent $4.53 billion with businesses owned by minorities, women, veterans, people with disabilities and LGBT owners, and with small businesses, in the 2025 budget year. That is more than double the $1.96 billion in 2017, and the highest in the nine years of state reports we reviewed.

The figures come from the annual reports of the Commonwealth's Supplier Diversity Office, which runs these programs. Over the same years, all state payments grew about 60%, from $61.4 billion to $98.3 billion, according to the Comptroller of the Commonwealth. The two totals are counted differently, but diverse and small business spending grew more than twice as fast.

Where the numbers come from: All spending figures in this story come from the Comptroller of the Commonwealth's public payment records on CTHRU, unless noted. Diversity program figures come from the Supplier Diversity Office's annual reports. These are the Cape Ann Current's own calculations; for official records, please visit the Comptroller's site. The group names in the charts and tables, such as minority-owned, women-owned, veteran-owned, small business and the race and ethnicity groups, are the labels the Commonwealth uses in its data and programs. The Cape Ann Current did not create or define them.

Nine years of growth

Women-owned businesses drove most of it. Spending with them rose $1.39 billion, more than half of the total increase. Tap a group to see its trend.

Total state spending with each group, including spending through other contractors, by state fiscal year (July to June). A business in two groups is counted once in the "All" line, so the groups add up to more than the total. Through 2021 the small business line counted businesses verified on COMMBUYS; from 2022 it counts members of the Small Business Purchasing Program. Source: Supplier Diversity Office annual reports, FY2019 to FY2025. Each year uses the newest report that shows it. Group names are the Commonwealth's own labels from its Supplier Diversity Office programs, not ones the Cape Ann Current created or defined.

Goals met, and missed

State agencies and departments set a goal, called a benchmark, for each group. It is a share of the money departments can choose how to spend, like supplies, services and construction. It does not count fixed costs like benefits and pensions. In 2025 state agencies and departments beat their goals for minority-owned, women-owned, disability-owned and small businesses. It missed for veteran-owned and LGBT-owned businesses.

Share of discretionary spending, fiscal 2025. Group names are the Commonwealth's own labels from its Supplier Diversity Office programs, not ones the Cape Ann Current created or defined. Source: Supplier Diversity Office FY2025 annual report.

The veteran goal is 3%. State agencies and departments reached 0.97%, about a third of the way there, even though spending with veteran-owned firms rose 45% in a year. The report says 11 state offices met the veteran goal on their own.

Paid directly, or as a subcontractor

A business can earn state money two ways. The state can pay it directly. Or a bigger company with a state contract can hire it as a subcontractor or supplier. State agencies and departments count both.

For Black-owned businesses, most of the money came the second way. Of $143.1 million in 2025, $23.9 million, about 17%, was paid directly by the state. Asian-owned businesses got most of theirs directly.

Spending with minority-owned businesses by the owners' race or ethnicity, fiscal 2025. Nonprofits with boards led by people of color are a separate line in the report ($329.5 million, almost all paid directly). The race and ethnicity groups, including Asian (Pacific), Asian (South Asian), Cape Verdean and Indigenous, are the categories the Commonwealth's Supplier Diversity Office uses in its report. The Cape Ann Current did not create or define them. Source: Supplier Diversity Office FY2025 annual report.

The number of diverse and small businesses state agencies and departments pay directly has been flat at about 1,000 a year. The number hired as subcontractors grew 31% in two years.

Vendors paid from discretionary spending. Group names are the Commonwealth's own labels from its Supplier Diversity Office programs, not ones the Cape Ann Current created or defined. Source: Supplier Diversity Office FY2025 annual report.

Membership in the Small Business Purchasing Program fell 15% in 2025. The Commonwealth moved sign-ups from COMMBUYS, its buying website, to a separate system run by the Supplier Diversity Office, and the report says it expects the number to rise as more businesses learn about the change. The program steers state purchases of goods and services worth up to $250,000 a year to Massachusetts firms with 50 or fewer full-time workers and $15 million or less in yearly sales.

The biggest diverse and small business vendors

These are the 300 businesses and nonprofits on a state certified list, or counted in the Commonwealth's 2025 diversity report, that state agencies and departments paid the most in the 2025 budget year. Use the filters to find a group, a region or a kind of work. Tap a column name to sort.

Vendors on the Commonwealth's certified and small business lists. "Kind of spending" is the state category used most for that vendor, in plain words. Some large payments, like child care subsidies, pass through a vendor to others. Source: Comptroller of the Commonwealth, CTHRU, and Supplier Diversity Office.

Where certified businesses are

The Commonwealth's directory of certified diverse and small businesses had 4,291 Massachusetts listings with a county on Oct. 9. Big counties have more businesses, so the chart below counts listings for every 10,000 people who live in each county. That way a small county and a large one can be compared fairly. The number in parentheses is the actual count of listings.

Statewide there are 6.1 listings for every 10,000 residents. Suffolk County, which is mostly Boston, has the most, 9.6. Cape Ann, which is part of Essex County, has 16 listings, or 3.5 for every 10,000 residents. That is lower than Essex County as a whole (5.6) and lower than every county except Nantucket and Dukes, which is Martha's Vineyard.

About this comparison. Listings in the Supplier Diversity Office directory per 10,000 residents in the 2020 Census. Every Massachusetts county is shown, plus Cape Ann (Gloucester, Rockport, Essex and Manchester-by-the-Sea), so readers can see where Cape Ann falls. The directory includes Small Business Purchasing Program members. It does not show businesses certified only by outside groups, and seven listings have no county. Certification types are the Commonwealth's own.

What it means for Cape Ann

Few Cape Ann businesses are in these programs, and few sell to the state at all. From 2021 to 2026, Massachusetts state agencies and departments paid $91.1 billion on contracts of every kind. Cape Ann businesses and nonprofits received $134.1 million of it, or 0.15%. For goods and services alone, like plowing, repairs, rent, supplies and consulting, Cape Ann businesses received $26.5 million of $50.8 billion, or 0.05%. Cape Ann is home to about 0.65% of the Commonwealth's people.

About this comparison. Contracts means the Comptroller's spending categories for goods and services, human and social services and contract workers, fiscal 2021 to 2026. Cape Ann means businesses and nonprofits with an address in Gloucester, Rockport, Essex or Manchester-by-the-Sea, not the city and towns themselves. Population share uses the 2020 Census. Work a Cape Ann business does as a subcontractor, or under an out-of-town address, is not counted.

Where Cape Ann does sell to the state, plowing leads. Over six years, Cape Ann contractors earned 1.6% of all the Commonwealth's snow and ice money, and one Essex company, Mayer Tree Service, earned 3.8% of its snow removal and groundskeeping money.

Fiscal years 2021 to 2026. Cape Ann's 10 largest goods and services categories. Category names are plain-word versions of the Comptroller's own spending categories; official definitions are in its Expenditure Classification Handbook. Source: Comptroller of the Commonwealth, CTHRU.

Of the 16 certified or registered Cape Ann businesses, only three show up in state payment records under their own names. The Commonwealth's 2025 report counts seven Gloucester vendors as diverse or small. Four are nonprofits, like Senior Care and Action. The other three are waterfront businesses: Gloucester Marine Railways, BioMarine Research and Three Lantern Marine and Fishing, which together were paid about $71,000 that year.

Where the openings are

Here is what state agencies and departments bought in 2025, grouped by kind of spending. Each group shows its statewide total, the share that went to certified diverse and small businesses, and what Cape Ann vendors received. The two biggest groups are open; tap any group to see the detailed categories inside it. The list starts with the kinds of work Cape Ann businesses already do: trades and repairs, plowing and grounds, marine supplies, food, printing, design, engineering, consulting and technology. Uncheck the box to see every category.

Fiscal 2025, categories with at least $1 million in state payments. "Cape Ann" shows dollars paid to Cape Ann vendors, with the number of vendors in parentheses. Internal transfers, fees and taxes are left out. "To certified firms" is the share paid to vendors on a state certified list or in the 2025 diversity report. Category names are plain-word versions of the Comptroller's own spending categories; official definitions are in its Expenditure Classification Handbook. Source: Comptroller of the Commonwealth, CTHRU.

A few things stand out:

• Building repairs. State agencies and departments paid 1,209 vendors $123 million for smaller building repairs and maintenance in 2025. Cape Ann vendors got about $12,000.
• Design, printing and communications. Certified diverse firms already win a big share here: 79% of $50 million for media design and communications, and 35% of $78 million for printing.
• Technology staff. State agencies and departments paid $220 million for temporary technology workers, and 35% went to certified firms.
• Engineering and science. About $137 million across two engineering and research categories. A Gloucester lab and a Gloucester fisheries consultant are among the few Cape Ann vendors.
• The waterfront. Boat fuel, parts, repairs and marine supplies are small categories, but they are where Gloucester's boatyards and fuel docks already sell to the state, mostly to its fish and game and environmental agencies.

Statewide contracts: one bid, many buyers

Much of what state agencies and departments buy goes through statewide contracts. These are master contracts run by the Commonwealth's Operational Services Division, the state purchasing agent. It manages more than 100 of them, covering hundreds of thousands of products and services, and oversaw $2.17 billion in purchases in fiscal 2023.

• Many buyers. State executive departments must use them when they fit. Cities and towns, public schools, libraries, public colleges, housing authorities and others can buy from them too, so one contract can bring work from the City of Gloucester as well as from Boston agencies.
• They reopen. New contracts are bid on a schedule, and some old ones reopen to new vendors. In 2024 the state reopened four tradespersons contracts covering 29 trades, like electrical, plumbing, HVAC, boilers and welding, to bring in more diverse and small businesses. Notices appear on COMMBUYS.
• Prime vendors must hire diverse firms. Every statewide contract vendor promises to spend a set share of its sales with certified diverse businesses each year. That is how most money reaches Black-owned and other diverse firms, as shown above. A certified Cape Ann business can sell to those prime vendors.
• Small purchases favor small firms. When an executive department buys goods or services worth $250,000 or less a year, including quotes under a statewide contract, it must give special consideration to members of the Small Business Purchasing Program, and award to them when their bid meets the requirements.

Signing up is free. The Supplier Diversity Office certifies businesses owned by minorities, women, veterans, people with disabilities and LGBT owners, and runs the Small Business Purchasing Program. The Operational Services Division's guide for statewide contract vendors explains how contracts work after you win one.

Which agencies the rules cover

The Commonwealth's buying rules, including these programs, apply fully to executive departments, which the Comptroller calls Level III. Those departments paid out $73.1 billion of the Commonwealth's $98.3 billion in payments in 2025. Courts, the Legislature, the University of Massachusetts and some other offices follow their own rules.

About the data

These figures come from state data, from the Comptroller of the Commonwealth and the Supplier Diversity Office, and from the U.S. Census. For official records, visit the Comptroller's spending site, CTHRU.