Economic Inclusion department reports improved turnarounds, eyes penalties for contractors who miss MBE/WBE goals

Director Castillo, speaking to the Cincinnati City Council budget committee, laid out the Department of Economic Inclusion’s (DEI) mission and performance targets and described recent operational changes intended to speed contractor inclusion work.

The department “certif[ies] minority women and small businesses, provid[es] development resources to certified firms and enforce[s] contract compliance,” Director Castillo said, listing certification, prevailing-wage and goal determinations, subcontractor management, and community engagement among DEI’s core programs.

DEI told the committee it has formal performance targets: to complete 90% of prevailing-wage determinations within five business days; to finish 90% of certification reviews within 60 business days (when applicants submit complete materials); and to increase city inclusion spending by 2.5% annually. Castillo said the department is working to meet those targets while processing a growing volume of requests.

On performance, DEI said certification processing remains the biggest bottleneck. The department reported receiving 43 complete certification applications in its first quarter and turning 61% around within 60 days; in the second quarter it received 64 applications and turned 48% around within 60 days. For prevailing-wage determinations, DEI reported meeting the five-business-day target 82% and 81% of the time in the first and second quarters respectively; goal determinations met the five-day target 78% (Q1) and 91% (Q2).

Castillo credited a shift to OnBase for improved tracking of pre-bid materials and determinations and said DEI is building a public-facing dashboard for contractor performance data. The department also described “proactive” contract monitoring and said it is considering implementing “a potential penalty or fee for firms that do not fill their contractual obligations” to reinforce goals on city construction and procurement projects.

Council members asked about transparency and tracking. Castillo said DEI can produce contractor-by-contractor reports and is building a more user-friendly dashboard to surface waiver requests, goal determinations and compliance status. The director said the department is also exploring reciprocity agreements with other certifying agencies to reduce duplicate applications.

The presentation closed with DEI pointing to community engagement and a business expo as accomplishments and to continuing delays in certification processing as the main operational challenge.

Ending: Council members who asked questions encouraged the department to publish clearer contractor-tracking information as projects come before the Planning Commission and council.