The real numbers behind diversity in government contracting

I had the pleasure recently of attending a news conference presented by members of Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration regarding progress in making Pennsylvania’s contracting process more inclusive of small and small diverse businesses.

Pennsylvania’s Secretary of General Services Curt Topper noted small diverse businesses continue to face barriers in government contracting. In fact, he called the data “eye-opening.” He noted the administration took steps in 2015 to even the playing field and the portion of contract funding awarded to small diverse businesses increased 35 percent over the past year.

I applaud these officials for their efforts – and the numbers are certainly better under Gov. Wolf; however, we need to look beyond the numbers to understand what that actually means for Pennsylvania. As indicated at the news conference, studies were performed to look at the disparities between the percentage of contract dollars the Department of General Services (DGS) and PennDOT spent with different groups of minority businesses, and the percentage of contract dollars those businesses would be expected to receive based on their availability to perform specific types of contracts.

Out of the $10.8 billion in DGS contracts, $85.9 million, or 4.5 percent, went to small, diverse businesses. Of the $12.5 billion spent in PennDOT contracting, $1.4 billion, or 11.5 percent, went to certified disadvantaged business enterprises or to diverse businesses. While there has been a significant increase over the last few years, the very low participation percentages indicate the state has a long way to go in leveling the playing field to providing minority contracting opportunities.

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