City of Boston and Boston Legacy Football Club Announce Updates on Supplier Diversity Initiatives for White Stadium

A new dashboard available to promote transparency, economic opportunity and access for local and diverse businesses; Privé Parking, a local Black-owned transportation firm founded by Roxbury resident Ricardo Pierre-Louis has already been awarded a contract.

Today, the City of Boston and Boston Legacy Football Club (BLFC) shared supplier diversity updates for White Stadium, including the awarding of contracts, community engagement events, and the launch of the White Stadium Supplier Diversity Initiative Dashboard. The dashboard is a tool designed to help local businesses access contracting opportunities as part of the White Stadium project, while monitoring progress towards the project’s Minority- and Women-Owned Business Enterprise (M/WBE) participation goals. 

“White Stadium is an incredible opportunity for economic development for our local businesses in Boston,” said Mayor Michelle Wu. “These latest updates on our efforts to hire women- and minority-owned businesses continue our work to invest in our communities by creating more access for our community. Generating job and contracting opportunities is an important part of making Boston a home for everyone.”

On the dashboard, local minority- and women-owned businesses and community members can view current and upcoming contracting opportunities, track contracts awarded to date, and monitor progress toward the project’s commitment to award 50% of all contracting dollars to M/WBEs across its design, construction, and operations phases. The new Supplier Diversity Dashboard brings together contracting opportunities from both the City and the football club. The dashboard serves as an online complement to the City’s broader community outreach plan, pairing digital access with in-person events that bring opportunities directly into neighborhoods. 

“As a lifelong resident of the City of Boston, I have seen too many major projects developed in our community, without our community. I am privileged to have the opportunity to prevent a self-fulfilling prophecy, working with my colleagues under the direction of Mayor Wu to level the playing field and ensure contract dollars reach local, diverse small businesses,” said Segun Idowu, Chief of Economic Opportunity and Inclusion. “This dashboard, tied together with the White Stadium Supplier Diversity Advisory Group and our Contracting Opportunity Fairs, is both delivering on our commitments to the community, and ensuring that we maintain a robust level of transparency and accountability to all stakeholders.”

The White Stadium renovation project includes two major construction components: the East Grandstand, led by the City of Boston, and the West Grandstand, led by BLFC. Both project teams are working in close coordination toward a shared goal of delivering a stadium that expands community access, honors the Franklin Park Action Plan, and generates long-term economic opportunity for the neighborhood and the city. 

The City of Boston and BLFC have hosted two in-person White Stadium Contracting Opportunity Fairs. The first event, held on March 18 at the National Center of Afro-American Artists (NCAAA) in Roxbury, welcomed nearly 60 local business owners, contractors, and community members, who engaged directly with project team leads. The second fair, hosted on April 15 at the Lena Park Community Center in Dorchester, drew over 75 attendees interested in learning more about upcoming contracting opportunities. Since these events, both the City and BLFC construction teams have received strong interest from local businesses eager to get involved in the project.

The White Stadium project team and the City of Boston Department of Supplier Diversity will host the next of a series of four in-person Contracting Opportunity Fairs on Tuesday, May 20th, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Grove Hall Library in Dorchester. At the event, attendees will be able to connect directly with the White Stadium construction teams and learn about upcoming contracting opportunities related to the project. 

In addition, the City will present updates on the City’s FY26 Buying Plan initiative led by the Procurement Department and Office of Economic Opportunity and Inclusion (OEOI). This will highlight how businesses can engage with procurement opportunities across City departments. Business owners interested in attending the April 15 event, as well as future Opportunity Fairs, can register using this form. 

Local businesses are already benefiting from these targeted outreach efforts. BLFC recently awarded a contract worth $160,000 to Privé Parking, a local Black-owned transportation firm founded by Roxbury resident Ricardo Pierre-Louis. He connected with BLFC through these networking events. Privé Parking will collaborate with BLFC to help shape the transportation and operations plan for National Women's Soccer League game days.

"It’s not often that local businesses get a seat at the table in large-scale developments, but being part of the White Stadium project proves that times are changing”, said Ricardo Pierre-Louis. “With the City of Boston’s support and the intentional connections made through their hosted networking events, it’s clear there’s a real commitment to creating opportunities for local businesses. I’m honored to be part of this groundbreaking moment not just for myself but as the beginning of what I hope is a wave of community-rooted businesses contributing to this development."

"Boston Legacy FC is committed to opportunities for local businesses and we are proud to have already established our first Supplier Diversity Advisory Group-driven contract with a local Black-owned business, Privé Parking,” said Jennifer Epstein, Boston Legacy Football Club Controlling Manager. “This furthers our ongoing commitment to supplier diversity, having already awarded over 50% of our contracts to minority and women-owned business enterprises. We deeply appreciate the ongoing work of the Supplier Diversity Advisory Group and look forward to continued strong participation from the community." 

For West Grandstand opportunities, businesses can submit their information using this form. For East Grandstand opportunities, businesses can contact Jon Rossini, Senior Project Manager at Bond Building Construction at jonrossini@bond-building.com.

“White Stadium has the chance to become a true reflection of Boston’s neighborhoods—both in who gets to play there and who gets to build it. Prioritizing local, diverse businesses isn’t just the right thing to do—it’s how we make sure this investment truly reaches the communities it’s meant to serve.,” said Beth Santos, Ula Cafe, small business owner and local resident. 

To explore the new Supplier Diversity Initiative Website and Dashboard, please visit City of Boston’s White Stadium webpage.