supplier diversity

Spanning across the Charles River, there are many bridges — physical and metaphorical. Now there’s a new link as the cities of Boston and Cambridge are, together, aiming to increase opportunities for diverse businesses in an agreement between the two municipalities, announced last week.

The energy thrummed around the conference table at Cambridge College, as 13 high school students prepared for a quiz, part of a paid summer learning initiative focused on green energy jobs, run by the Boston professionals’ chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers.

After a study released last year looking at racial disparities in city contracts showed steep inequalities between dollars going to Black, Latinx and white bidders, Mayor Michelle Wu is now looking to close the gaps with a new pilot program being pitched to the City Council.

Gov. Charlie Baker filed legislation last Thursday aimed at increasing the share of state contracts going to minority- and woman-owned businesses.