In May, the Pennsylvania Department of General Services issued a $900,000 contract to BBC Research & Consulting (Browne, Bortz & Coddington) of Denver, Colo., to conduct a state-wide disparity study to determine the extent to which small diverse businesses face discrimination in the state contracting process.
Last week, the department announced the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation will also be included in the study—potentially creating a greater opportunity for small and minority-owned firms to garner a greater portion of the $2.4 billion in infrastructure and highway construction contracts it issues annually.
PennDOT Secretary Leslie Richards, who was in Pittsburgh Oct. 23 for a women’s leadership event at Carnegie Mellon University, told the New Pittsburgh Courier that she welcomes being included in the study.
“We want to increase our minority contracting, and we’re working hard on that. Tomorrow is our third of three diversity meetings we’ve had with minority-owned firms throughout the state and with contractors,” she said. “We think the disparity study will give us information where we can increase those numbers. It’s a priority of mine and of the governor.”
Richards said the meetings—held at Cheney University, the state Farm Show in Harrisburg, and at Indiana University of Pennsylvania—were not only arranged to bring small and diverse businesses together with prime contractors, but were also focused on linking them directly with PennDOT.
“We can walk them though how to become a business partner, how to get linked into our (Engineering and Construction Management System) where contracts are awarded, how you can bid on things,” she said. “We’re connecting with minority-owned firms and helping them navigate the business procurement process at PennDOT.”
Department of General Services Spokesman Troy Thompson said DGS is also scheduling meetings about the disparity study, to specifically garner feedback from small and minority-owned businesses. He said expanding the study to include PennDOT will be very helpful.
“It’s a really big deal when you think of the amount of work that goes on there,” he said. “We’ll be able to see how we can incorporate some socially-conscious measures into the work they do, maybe put some requirements in there, and we’re going to see where other barriers might be—maybe in the contract language, maybe some of the subcontractor compliance requirements. And the bottom line is, having them included gives us a more complete look at the state of the barriers these small businesses face in Pennsylvania.”
PennDOT spokesman Rich Kirkpatrick said the department had planned its own disparity study, but when the DGS study was approved, it made sense to be included. The overall study will not be delayed by the expansion.
“I’m hearing at these meetings that some contractors are desperate to find minority subs,” he said. “The primes’ needs can run the gamut from excavation services, asphalt or lumber, to pipe-laying, heavy equipment, flags and vest, you name it. That’s why we’re doing these meetings. Thant’s why we’re reaching out.”
(Courier photographer J.L. Martello contributed to this story.)
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