In April 2008, the City contracted with MGT to conduct the review of its Procurement and Small Business Enterprise (SBE) Program. It wasn’t a disparity study on the magnitude of what Mayor Ashton Hayward has proposed, but it showed some alarming stats for both small businesses (SBE) and minority-owned businesses for the period 2005-2007.
Minorities were awarded approximately 1 percent of the total dollars expended by the City during the study period, about $2.9 million—out of $292 million awarded.
African-American: $2,841,025 —1.04%
Hispanic-American: $923 — 0.00%
Asian-American: $26,398 —0.01%
Native American: $57,912—0.02%
Minority-owned firms were utilized by the City over the study period, about 0.7 percent of the number of firms utilized—1,616
African-American:8
Hispanic-American:1
Asian-American:1
Native American:2
SBEs received $16.4 million on City projects from FY2005 through FY2007, 6.27 percent of City spending.
FY2005: $2,170,748.08 — 2.50%
FY2006: $5,763,410.41 — 7.31%
FY2007: $8,471,569.72 — 8.84%
Total: $16,405,728.21 — 6.27%
A SBE is defined as an independently owned and operated business with (1) 50 or fewer full time employees, and (2) a net worth of not more than $1 million. The business must be located in the 325 zip code prefix geographic area.