Diversity
By Jim Pytell, Managing Editor On Oct 28, 2024
Earlier this year, a comprehensive statewide disparity study examining public contracting opportunities for minority and women-owned businesses found that there were “statistically significant” disparities in contracting with such businesses.
Today, Gov. Phil Murphy held a roundtable discussion to highlight these disparities and discuss potential remedies with legislators and stakeholders.
The study, conducted by Mason Tillman and Associates (MTA), reviewed statewide procurement data relating to goods and services, professional services, and construction over a five-year span and concluded that disparity in the awarding of public contracts exists across multiple minority-owned and women-owned business enterprises in those sectors.
For example, minority-owned businesses represented 27.97% of the available construction businesses but received only 3.69% of the dollars for prime construction contracts valued from $65,000 to $5,710,000. Likewise, minority-owned businesses represented 23.56% of the available goods and services businesses but received only 4.24% of the dollars on prime goods and services contracts valued from $40,000 to $360,000.
“In New Jersey, our diversity is our greatest strength, and it is imperative that our procurement processes reflect these values,” said Murphy. “As a state, I’m not sure that any other state can compare to [some of our other equity initiatives], yet when it comes to diverse supplier procurements, we fail.”
Michelle Bodden, chief diversity and inclusion officer, New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA), said that the department is acutely aware of the socioeconomic challenges and the inequities facing diverse individuals in the state. “We actively engage with our diverse chambers and try to prioritize that our products, programs and operations are built with socioeconomic equity in mind,” she added.
Assemblyman Benjie E. Wimberly, co-chair of the Joint Committee on Economic Justice and Equal Employment Opportunity, said that the study’s findings highlight “systemic barriers that have gone unaddressed.”
“[These barriers] allow state agencies to be relaxed about diversifying vendors and broadening business opportunities, and this demands immediate, decisive action,” said Wimberly. “Since this report was released, I have collaborated with many stakeholders, like the African American Chamber of Commerce NJ and the New Jersey State Women’s Chamber of Commerce, to launch a targeted legislative agenda focused on eliminating these obstacles and creating a more fair approach to market competition.”
Assembly Speaker Craig J. Coughlin called it a moral obligation to ensure economic opportunities for every New Jerseyan.
“Equity in the contracting process for minority- and women-owned businesses will benefit every corner of our state,” the speaker said. “We have demonstrated that when every community has the chance to thrive, it grows the entire economy.”
The Murphy administration described today’s discussion as a valuable working session for representatives from the executive and legislative branches to hear directly from industry stakeholders.
It is through this collaboration that the state hopes to establish legislative solutions to make the public bidding process “more accessible and resolve disparities in procurement processes.”
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