At-Large Councilman David A. Catania has introduced two bills that seek to tackle D.C.’s high unemployment rate by offering businesses more incentives to hire locally. Since the market bottomed out in 2009, the city’s unemployment rate still hovers at 10 percent, and roughly 1 in 4 residents of Ward 8 are unemployed.
One bill, co-sponsored by Ward 3 Councilwoman Mary Cheh, would require Certified Business Enterprises to staff at least half their workforce with District residents. A CBE designation allows companies to receive preferential treatment when seeking city contracts. Currently, there is no resident requirement per se for the CBE designation. However, the amount of D.C. residents a business employs is often considered when the city awards a contract.
