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discriminatory practices. Anything eighty percent (80%) and above, there might be some other <br /> reasons in there that could explain it. <br /> Michael Schmidt, Purchasing Director for the City of South Bend with offices located on the 12th <br /> floor of the County-City Building, asked, How did you get above one hundred percent (100%)? <br /> Ms. Brooks replied, That signifies over-utilization. All things being equal, we are using them at a <br /> much higher rate.The utilization of MWBE's based on the three(3)years of the final contract data <br /> was eleven-point nine seven percent (11.97%). The weighted availability is fourteen-point nine <br /> one percent (14.91%). Then we move into the economy-wide rates and gender disparities in the <br /> City market. They pulled together census data to determine what the rest of the market looks like. <br /> Is this just for City contracts, or is this happening in other businesses in the City or geographic <br /> marketplace? What the City determined is that there is disparate treatment in the marketplace, <br /> disparities in access to business capital, and disparities in access to human capital in our <br /> marketplace. This wasn't just specific to what we do, it is happening throughout our geographic <br /> marketplace. In most cases,MWBE's were underutilized in all industry levels.Wages and business <br /> earnings were lower for these groups compared to white men. Non-white and white women are <br /> less likely to form some of these types of businesses compared to similarly situated white men. It <br /> paints a picture of systemic and endemic inequalities for MWBE's and their ability to actually get <br /> a business off the ground. <br /> She continued, The next portion shows what the people are actually experiencing. One hundred <br /> ten (110) different people participated across all ethnic and gender groups through four (4) <br /> stakeholder meetings. A lot of people say they do not market that they are an MBE. If they market <br /> it, sometimes they don't get the work. Others felt like the City staff didn't want them to have the <br /> job,not because they are not the best at their job,because they are,it was just that they would say, <br /> you don't need that much money, you're just a little black girl, you don't need that much money. <br /> Unanimously, they all said we need to do more than just race and gender-neutral activities. Black <br /> owned construction companies can't get contracts with the City. They have to build their business <br /> with only small ones, and it is hard to maintain a cash flow that way. <br /> Boardmember Bilijah Williams asked, Do the people in the City that make those decisions have <br /> any minority training? <br /> Ms. Brooks replied, It is spread out. We've been working on trying to shrink the number of City <br /> buyers. We had over one hundred and fifty (150) City buyers that had their own way of making <br /> purchases. We are trying to centralize them and have them go through a central point to make sure <br /> they are following the policy that we develop. We plan to make sure they have sufficient training <br /> and understand what the expectations are and how to make sure that they are more inclusive in the <br /> process. <br /> Boardmember Williams followed up, Will there also be a check and balance somewhere, if it is <br /> another person or another group? <br /> Ms. Brooks replied, There are a couple of stopping points. A department or a City buyer can <br /> determine, based on the amount of the contract itself, if there is more leeway and the contract is <br />