Tennessee’s Governor's Office of Diversity and Enterprise (Go-DBE) has revealed that the state has set a record by spending $739 million with small businesses and businesses owned by women, minorities, service-disabled veterans and persons with disabilities. 

The “Go-DBE” was created in 2003 with the intention to expanding economic opportunities for small businesses and to promote diversity in the economic arena. Since then, the program has expanded to include opportunities for service-disabled owned enterprises and businesses owned by persons with disabilities. 

"Small businesses are the backbone of our economy, and our state is committed to supporting them—especially those owned by minorities, women, individuals with disabilities, and service-disabled veterans,” said Governor Bill Lee.  “In a year where COVID-19 has created an uphill battle for many of our small businesses, we are proud that the state of Tennessee has been able to increase its work with diversity-owned businesses.”

Although this year has been exceptionally tough for small businesses, due to COVID-19, they managed to succeed and the State of Tennessee played a large role.

For more see: https://www.tn.gov/generalservices/about-dgs/newsroom1/2020/12/28/state-sets-record-for-spend-with-diversity-businesses.html