Revised City of South Bend Disparity Study Report

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City of South Bend Disparity Study 2020 record— both quantitative and qualitative— establishes that M/WBEs in the City's market area experience significant disparities in their access to contracts without M/WBE goals, private sector opportunities and to resources necessary for business success. The dearth of available firms confirms that the obstacles to the formation of firms, described in Chapter V, adversely affect potential minority and woman entrepreneurs, especially Blacks. In our view, without the use of narrowly tailored goals, South Bend is likely to function as a "passive participant" in marketplace discrimination. We therefore recommend the City adopt the following race- and gender -conscious measures. Set on annual, overall for aggregated City spending: The City should set an annual, overall target for M/WBE utilization in City contracts (prime contracts and subcontracts combined). The weighted availability estimates in Chapter IV should be the basis for consideration of overall, annual spending targets for City funds. This target can be the City's goal for its overall spending with certi- fied firms across all industry categories. Set narrowly tailored contract goals: The City should use the study's detailed unweighted availability estimates as the starting point for contract specific goals: As discussed in Chapter II of the Study, the City's constitutional responsi- bility is to ensure that goals are narrowly tailored to the specifics of the proj- ect. The detailed availability estimates in the Study can serve as the starting point for contract goal setting. There should be a goal setting module in the electronic monitoring system. This methodology involves four steps: 1. Weight the estimated dollar value of the scopes of the contract by industry codes, as determined during the process of creating the solicitation. Good faith efforts could be defined as, among several other elements, an adequate solicitation of firms certified in these codes; 2. Determine the availability of MBEs and WBEs in those scopes as estimated in the Study; 3. Calculate a weighted goal based upon the scopes and the availability of firms; 4. Adjust the resulting percent- age based on current market conditions. Include all racial and ethnic groups and White women in program eligibility on a presumptive basis: The Study found that as a group, M/WBEs continue to suffer disparities in their access to City contracts. Program eligibility should be limited to firms that have a business presence in the City's market area, as established by this study. This consists of the State of Indiana and the county of Berrien, MI. The City should accept M/WBE Certifications from the State of Indiana, the City of Indianapolis, and the Indiana Unified Certification Program. It will need to collect full and complete data on the firm's race and gender ownership, and NAICS code(s) to fully monitor the program as required by the courts. It will be the City's constitutional responsibility to ensure that the certi- fications it accepts are from narrowly tailored programs with demonstrated integrity. 0 2020 Colette Holt & Associates, All Rights Reserved. 15