Many of Rhode Island's minority groups are growing, but the value of state contracts with minority business enterprises, known as MBEs, isn't keeping up.
"It's not a secret minority [groups] have been growing at an accelerated rate," Oscar Mejias, president of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and a Venezuelan-American, said Jan. 6 during the 2017 Rhode Island Small Business Economic Summit. "We don't want to be called minorities anymore," he said, referring to women, disabled persons, veterans and nonwhite ethnicities.
In fiscal years 2014 and 2015, 4 percent of the state's procurement dollars went to MBEs, according to the R.I. Office of Diversity, Equity and Opportunity. Last year it was 6.3 percent, still well below the 10 percent minimum set in state law.
The day before the summit, Gov. Gina M. Raimondo issued an executive order that would nearly double the percentage of state procurement dollars awarded to MBEs to 12 percent by 2020.
"We've made progress in opening doors for minority-owned … businesses … but it's not enough," she said in announcing the executive order.
But Mejias and others who spoke during a summit breakout session focused on challenges faced by Rhode Island MBEs agreed Raimondo's executive order won't solve all the problems by itself.
Sandra Cano, co-chair and assistant vice president of community development at Navigant Credit Union, said minority business owners are often unaware of programs designed to help them succeed.
According to the ODEO, there are 504 MBEs in the Ocean State, 279 of which are certified with the state and can apply for state contracts.
"We need to do a better job of [having them] understand the benefits" of certification, she said.
Claudia Cardozo, Coastway Community Bank's community-development manager, said many Hispanics learn by listening to the radio while they work, rather than reading the internet, and "a three-hour training [session] cannot change culture."
Mejias' group recommended to state officials that money be allocated to ensure information for procurement and contracting reaches emerging markets.
Other recommendations included making government customer service more culturally sensitive, better publicizing MBE-oriented financial opportunities and holding the state accountable for delayed payments to subcontractors.
Cano recalled a recent telephone conversation with a state employee who she said treated her insensitively because of her accent.
"We don't have enough diversity [among government employees] within our cities and towns," she said.
The working group suggested that the system be tested by, among other things, a secret shopper; and utilizing a language bank (a translation system available to state employees). •