Shelby County is currently moving forward with plans to reinstate its minority- and woman-owned business (MWBE) contracting program after a three-year hiatus. The hiatus came after the settlement of a lawsuit by Mechanical Contractors Association of Memphis and White Plumbing & Mechanical Contractors, which had alleged the MWBE program constituted discrimination.
The reopened MWBE program rests on a legal basis determined in part by the results of a 2022 disparity study which found statistically significant underutilization of MWBEs relative to their availability in Shelby County during the period of 2016 through 2020. The study recommended that Shelby County resume setting aspirational goals for spending with MWBEs as a means of remedying the disparity.
The Shelby County Board of Commissioners is currently going through a series of readings of the proposed reopening of the MWBE program, which will determine whether or not it goes through and in what form. Current proposals require a new disparity study every five years and an annual revision of the participation goals.
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