Hi there,
This week we're looking at the disturbing trend in City of Boston contracts.
What’s Happening?:
A report found that women-owned and minority-owned businesses are largely shut out of contracts from the City of Boston, netting only 11% of the $2.1 billion allotted (GBH News). For contrast, 31% of contracts in Philadelphia and 29% in Chicago went to women-owned and minority owned businesses. (Boston Globe).
In Boston, black-owned businesses received only 0.4% of total spending. (Boston Globe).
Why does it matter?
These disparities are not new. A 2019 report found in fiscal year 2018, the City of Boston awarded less than 1% of city contracts to women-owned and minority-owned businesses (Boston Globe).
The Black Economic Council of MA (BECMA) released the following statement:
“The study reveals what [our] members and community leaders have been saying for decades: The City of Boston does not value Black businesses or the Black community. The 703-page report lays out in stark detail that despite the pronouncements, public statements, executive orders, and policies, Mayor Martin J. Walsh and his administration have failed to deliver fair and equitable procurement for Black-owned businesses, as well as for other minority- and women-owned businesses.”
Boston needs to stop conducting studies and start changing policy.