The City of Raleigh works to ensure minority and women-owned businesses (MWBE) have equitable opportunities to contract with the City. A recent study found that, like many local governments, Raleigh continues to have disparities in MWBE representation in its contracting. The study also recommended ways to improve MWBE participation.
What were the findings?
The evaluation looked at services contracted by the City of Raleigh and the racial and gender breakdowns of contractors hired. The study looked for gaps between contractors’ race and gender and Raleigh’s demographics. What we learned is that there are disparities in the following service types:
- Design Services - Asian American-owned firms, Hispanic American-owned firms, Women-owned Businesses
- Construction and Construction Related Services: African American-owned firms, Asian American-owned firms, Hispanic American-owned firms, Native American-owned firms
- General Services (Professional and Nonprofessional Services) - Asian American-owned firms, Native American-owned firms
- Goods and Supplies: African American-owned firms, Asian American-owned firms, Hispanic American-owned firms, Native American-owned firms, Women-owned Businesses
The following challenges were shared with us through surveys of local MWBE firms. These findings are anecdotal and not part of the statistical evaluation.
- Companies have difficulties accessing loan and grant funding, which is critical when taking on larger projects.
- They also face challenges understanding the process for working with the City.
- The MWBE certification process is laborious. Some companies forego certification, meaning they are not counted as MWBE even if they are owned by minorities or women.
- There is a lack of networking opportunities, which build connections that increase a business’ chance of success.
What areas were covered?
We reviewed a five-year period to see what racial and gender groups were underrepresented in the following categories: Design Services, Goods and Supplies, Professional and Nonprofessional Services, Construction and Construction-Related Services.
What are the recommendations?
- Establish Race and Gender-Conscious Goals
- Add goals that require good faith effort to get minority and women participation in all types of city contracts. We have created a committee tasked with setting up these goals.
- Make changes to procurement systems and culture. We have revamped our procurement advisory committee, and they will be tasked with advancing procurement improvements.
- Implement race and gender-neutral initiatives that assist all businesses, regardless of who owns them. Initiatives may include help setting goals, training, and outreach, and lending expertise on certain business operations.
- Create a diverse supplier program to ensure the city gets more of its supplies and services from businesses owned by traditionally underrepresented groups.
What are the next steps?
- Expand goals for MWBE participation on contracts beyond construction. Currently we have a goal of 15% participation on construction contracts of $300K or more.
- Foster an environment where we are more intentional and inclusive in our procurement practices.
- Establish committees to support implementation of the recommendations with specific efforts including data gathering and analysis, setting goals, implementing policy, and enhancing programming.
For more information
- View the Disparity Study 6-page Summary
- View the Disparity Study Executive Summary
- View the full Disparity Study
To learn more about our MWBE work, visit the program landing page or contact mwbe@raleighnc.gov.