Critical Disparity Study Provides Roadmap to Equity in Opportunity
Dear Prince Georgians:
Over the years, as I served as your State’s Attorney and then as I ran to be your County Executive, I heard from numerous minority business owners who expressed concerns with the process to obtain County contracts. Those concerns centered around equal opportunity for small, minority and women-owned local businesses to bid for and obtain contracts with the County Government.
That’s why when I came into office as County Executive, it was a priority of my Administration to take the lead and determine whether the County, in the past, engaged in discriminatory practices in the solicitation and award of contracts to minority and women-owned businesses. We understood that a “Disparity Study” was essential to accomplish this goal, as it would help us identify the issue and have a clear understanding of what measures needed to be taken, if a disparity did in fact exist.
The truth of the matter is, this study is long overdue to ensure business owners have a fair seat at the table in the procurement process. I’m proud to say that after completing this study and taking a critical look at historical procurement practices and constraints, we now have the data, tools, and ability to work as a government to ensure minority and women-owned businesses have equal opportunity to provide goods and services to our County.
In December 2019, the Prince George’s County Government, through our Office of Central Services, completed a Utilization and Availability Study, also known as a Disparity Study. A disparity study analyzes contracting opportunities in various procurement categories to identify whether a statistical disparity exists between availability and use of specific business ownership classifications, like small, minority, woman owned, and large businesses. The Disparity Study covered a period from July 1, 2010, through June 30, 2018 (FY2010 – FY2018), and is a mechanism, based on sound data, to support any new, relevant law or policy.
Under current County law, the Office of Central Services operates a procurement program that is race-and gender-neutral, targeting local and/or small businesses, with the goal of a 30% Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) participation, which prohibits the government from setting sub-goals to be inclusive to ethnic groups ensuring an equitable distribution of opportunity. The reason this study was so important is that, if a disparity did exist in the past, we would need concrete data to support any new policy or changes to current law.
The results of the Disparity Study show that there has been a historical disparity in the use of certain Minority/Women-owned Business Enterprises (M/WBE) and their availability in the marketplace. This critical, in-depth study will now assist our Administration in determining how best to utilize the County Government’s procurement authority.
This study has laid the foundation to allow us to work with the County Council to create legislation that will allow the County to set regulations requiring businesses seeking opportunities with County Government to subcontract a percentage of the contract to specific sub-groups that have been historically underutilized, like Black, Latino and Asian businesses. In fact, Council Member Mel Franklin has already drafted legislation to address this important issue.
This Disparity Study was a critical first step, and we look forward to working to ensure our small and Minority/Women-owned Business Enterprises, the backbone of our local economy, have equal opportunity to participate in obtaining County contracts. Our collective goal is to create a solid foundation and strong opportunities for small and minority businesses to grow, thrive, and build generational wealth in Prince George’s County.
Yours in service,
Angela Alsobrooks
Prince George’s County Executive
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