Вирджиния-Бич признала системное неравенство в госзакупках для малого бизнеса

VIRGINIA BEACH — Businesses owned by minorities are getting more opportunities to work with Virginia Beach than in the past, but they’re still underutilized, according to a recent study. The city hired a consultant to analyze the demographics of businesses it contracted with over a four-year period. The consultant evaluated whether small businesses and minority, woman and service disabled veteran-owned businesses have equitable opportunities to participate in city contracts and procurements. BBC Research & Consulting analyzed $1.6 billion of contracts the city awarded between July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2024. Of that, the city awarded roughly 6%, or $100 million of its contract dollars to women-owned businesses, which includes specifically white women. An additional 4.5%, or $72 million, of city contract dollars were awarded to minority-owned businesses. Of those, more than half were Black-owned. The findings showed that minority and women-owned businesses should be landing more contracts with Virginia Beach based on the firms’ availability, according to Sameer Bawa, managing director at BBC. “All groups that we analyzed as part of the study showed substantial disparities when you consider all city contracts,” Bawa told City Council on Tuesday. “Their participation by and large is not lining up with their availability in the marketplace.” BBC conducted the city’s first disparity study in 2018, after which Virginia Beach set goals to increase opportunities for minority-owned businesses. The 2018 study analyzed five years of data, while the 2025 update covered four years and reflected an overall increase in the number of businesses available to contract with the city. To determine the level of disparity, the study examined the difference between the percentage of contract and subcontract dollars the city awarded to businesses and the percentage of contract and subcontract dollars that would be expected based on businesses availability to perform specific types and sizes of contracts. Following the 2018 study, the city implemented the Small, Woman-owned, and Minority-owned Procurement Program and started using race-based goals to encourage the participation of minority-owned businesses in certain construction projects worth more than $5 million. “City Council initiatives and established goals had a significant impact in minority and women-owned businesses participating in city contracts,” said Lavera Tolentino, a city purchasing agent, at Tuesday’s meeting. The city increased spending with minority and women-owned businesses from $48 million in fiscal year 2019 to $120 million in fiscal year 2024. “We’ve come a long way,” Tolentino said. The study showed the goal program for minority-owned businesses on large construction contracts helped grow participation, particularly for Black-owned businesses, but more work needs to be done. BBC recommended the city reinstate and expand the goal program beyond construction contracts, which expired last year, and include white women-owned businesses. The analysis also concluded that the city should lower the $5 million contract threshold to open opportunities for more small businesses. The city paid $409,990 for the updated study. Other local cities, including Portsmouth and Newport News, have also conducted recent reviews that highlighted disparities in municipal contracting with minority-owned businesses. Stacy Parker, 757-222-5125, [email protected]