Currently in 2011, and beginning in 2007, Econsult has been retained by the City of Philadelphia to conduct an Annual Disparity Study to compare the utilization of disadvantaged businesses in City contracts with their proportion in the regional marketplace.
The study is designed to analyze the City of Philadelphia’s utilization of Minority Business Enterprises (MBEs), Women Business Enterprises (WBEs), and Disabled Business Enterprises (DSBEs)—collectively known as Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBEs)—relative to the availability of such firms to compete for City business. These studies have helped to determine the extent to which disparity exists, as well as provide critical data in the development and formulation of the Finance Director’s Annual Participation Goals. It is an important component of safeguarding the public interest in identifying and rectifying instances of discrimination, and proactively seeking ways to promote the inclusive participation of DBEs in economic opportunities.
Disparity is measured as the ratio of DBE utilization to DBE availability. “Utilization” for each category and industry sector is defined as the total dollar value of contracts awarded to for-profit DBE prime contractors and sub-contractors certified by the City of Philadelphia’s Minority Business Enterprise Council (MBEC) divided by the dollar value of all City contracts awarded to for-profit prime contractors and sub-contractors, as recorded in MBEC’s Participation Report. A disparity ratio greater than 1.0 represents over-utilization, whereas a disparity ratio less than 1.0 represents underutilization. In all of the years studied, Econsult also made recommendations for future study methodology and scope, policy and programming, data collection, and goal-setting. These recommendations included streamlining of certification and contract processes, centralizing and automating processes via information technology systems, and building redundancy into the process to avoid bottlenecks and provide necessary checks and balance.
The reports are available here for each year completed. Fiscal Year 2010 will be posted some time in 2011. An Opinion from W. Wilson Goode, Jr. in the Philadelphia Inquirer on January 23, 2011, as well as an article in the Philadelphia Tribune in 2009 is also included here.
CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, FISCAL YEAR 2010, ANNUAL DISPARITY STUDY (October 6, 2011)
CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, FISCAL YEAR 2009, ANNUAL DISPARITY STUDY (August 25, 2010)
CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, FISCAL YEAR 2008, ANNUAL DISPARITY STUDY (June 12, 2009)
CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, FISCAL YEAR 2007, ANNUAL DISPARITY STUDY (June 3, 2008)
CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, FISCAL YEAR 2006, ANNUAL DISPARITY STUDY (May 30, 2007)
Econsult Corporation's Summary Statement of Experience on the Annual Disparity Studies
Annual studies help Philadelphia address diversity in contracting (January 23, 2011)
Inclusion Falls Short (December 4, 2009)
