Earlier in the Spring of 2020, the City of Dallas completed a disparity study that examined whether there were disparities between the availability and utilization of minority- and woman-owned businesses (MWBEs) on the city-funded contracts.
The disparity study's positive findings included the fact that the Office of Business Diversity (OBD) successfully met the goals of implementing a subcontractor utilization payment module, holding quarterly training meetings, holding pre-submission meetings, and formed a Business Diversity Taskforce. The negative findings of the study, which covered the period from October 2014 through September 2018, found substantial disparities across the majority of fields for the majority of diverse business types (MBEs, WBEs, and MWBEs).
The disparity study recommended, in order to remedy these disparities that OBD enhance its MWBE compliance efforts, utilize diverse suppliers for its own needs, perform regular site visits, ensure prompt payment procedures for subcontractors, and develop a formal strategy for cooperating with business advocacy organizations. It also recommended raising the aspirational utilization goals, with construction in particular being given a recommended MWBE participation goal of 32.09 percent (an increase over the current utilization goal of 25 percent, with 27.94 percent utilization attained over the period of the study).
Find the study's website at https://cityofdallasdisparitystudy.com/.
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