While D.C. government agencies have awarded billions of dollars in contracts to businesses owned by women and people of color, a recent analysis found that the vast majority of that money goes to a relatively small number of local firms.
The 409-page study of the city’s contracting and procurement operations, released publicly earlier this month, examined whether minority-owned businesses receive a fair share of D.C.’s contracting dollars. Researchers from three firms (the Denver-based group BBC Research and Consulting, Pantera Management Group and Tiber Hudson) led the effort over the past two years, overseen by D.C.’s offices for the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development and the Department of Small and Local Business Development.
The researchers examined the procurement habits of the D.C. government, Events DC and the University of the District of Columbia between fiscal 2016 and 2020, finding positive trends as well as areas with room for dramatic improvement. The study’s authors also surveyed 1,134 local business owners to gauge their interest in contracting with the city, and to discern any challenges they face while doing so.
In all, the study says, D.C. awarded about $8 billion in contracts and subcontracts during that time frame; about $2.9 billion of those went to businesses that were owned by women and people of color — for a spending rate of 37 percent. The city earned praise for that figure; researchers noted that D.C.’s spending rate for minority businesses far exceeded many other jurisdictions that recently completed disparity studies, including Boston (11 percent), San Diego (19 percent), Charlotte (about 15 percent) and Virginia (13.4 percent).
But that $2.9 billion was not distributed evenly among women- and POC-owned businesses that received city contracts, the study found: About 70 percent of that money was concentrated among 10 percent of such businesses.
