PROVIDENCE – State policies for contracting with minority-owned businesses have come under scrutiny amid heightened attention on racial justice issues.
The Rhode Island Black Business Association joined with state leaders and minority business owners in a press conference on Thursday, calling for a host of policy reforms to level the playing field for business owners of color, including through government contracting.
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Lisa Ranglin, president of RIBBA, specifically faulted the state for its failure in contract compliance with minority-owned business owners.
The R.I. Department of Administration through its Office of Diversity, Equity and Opportunity works to partner with minority-owned small businesses on government procurements, weighting their applications higher and requiring 10% of total dollars awarded to minority- or women-owned businesses, But the state has not delivered on this requirement, according to Ranglin, in part due to a waiver that allows prime contractors not to include minority-owned businesses as subcontractors if they can demonstrate a “good faith effort” to work with them.
R.I. Sen. Harold M. Metz, D-Providence, who sponsored initial legislation that established the 10% requirement, said the intent of the policy has been subverted.
“The reality is our Black and brown contractors are left out on the outside still trying to get in,” Metz said.”Perhaps it’s time for the Black and brown contractors to sue the state.”
Ranglin called for rescinding this waiver, as well as establishing a separate contract office outside of the state government to ensure compliance – a practice already used in neighboring states such as Massachusetts.
“Without enforcement, contract compliance policies, plans and and strategies intended to include Black and brown businesses are useless,” Johnny Levya, president of the Rhode Island Black Contractors Association said in a statement.
Other recommended reforms highlighted in the news conference included:
- Increasing the state’s 10% procurement participation goal for Black and Latino contractors to reflect the increase in the state’s minority population;
- Issuing a state executive order to establish preference in government contracts where people of color are the “predominant group to be served” or where work will be in a community comprised of at least 20% people of color;
- Pledging at least 20% of funding to economic development in minority communities; and
- Implementing an audit system to ensure compliance with payments to state prime and subcontractors.
Dorinda Keene, the state’s interim associate director for Minority Business Enterprise compliance, did not immediately return inquiries for comment. However, in previous interviews with Providence Business News, Keene highlighted the ways the department is working to increase participation among minority business owners. The state recently began a pilot program to provide weekly payments to minority subcontractors, and has also commissioned a study aimed at identifying and eliminating barriers to minority business participation in government contracts.
These opportunities are a way to help minority business enterprises grow, especially amid the current economic uncertainty,” Keene said in a statement. “We remain committed to making these opportunities more accessible and easier to navigate.”
