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Grand Prairie staff report disparity-study progress; consultant MGT to deliver final data soon
Summary
City staff said the disparity study — led by consultant MGT and covering more than $700 million in city spending across a multi-year period — has reconstructed roughly 56% of spend and will return with final numbers at the end of the month; staff and council discussed tracking subcontractor data and implementation through committees.
Katrina Bonnick Higgins, the city’s business diversity administrator, updated the Grand Prairie City Council on the city’s disparity study and the next steps for setting procurement or contracting goals based on consultant recommendations.
Bonnick Higgins said the study — led by consultant MGT — is legally structured to identify barriers to contracting for minority- and women-owned businesses. She told council the study examines more than $700 million in city spending across the study period (staff described the timeframe as covering material spend from 2009 through 2019 and up to 2023) and that the study has reconstructed roughly 56% of total spend, exceeding the 50% threshold MGT requires for a valid analysis.
The MGT methodology, she said, includes three parts: quantitative utilization data, qualitative information gathered from interviews, focus groups and surveys, and a private-sector comparison. Bonnick Higgins said the quantitative analysis now includes subcontractor utilization data — an area the city had not previously tracked — and that more than 500 firms participated in interviews, focus groups or surveys.
Council members asked about details the study will show, including whether some minority- or women-owned firms had relationships with prime contractors and how that would be reflected. Bonnick Higgins said she would check with MGT on specific relationship data and that MGT, city staff and city leadership would present final numbers and recommendations to council before staff drafts and implements a program.
On geography, Bonnick Higgins said Grand Prairie’s relevant market area originally focused on four counties the city touches but the consultant expanded the analysis to 11 contiguous counties where the city spends money. Council members asked about the city’s ability to track subcontractor payments; staff said the city is implementing an enterprise resource-planning system (Workday) and already uses a B2Gnow platform that can track diversity spend down multiple tiers. Staff said they will explore integration between Workday and B2Gnow and examine whether the systems can track whether prime contractors have paid subcontractors.
Bonnick Higgins said staff expects to receive initial finalized data from MGT at the end of the month, then follow a review and question period with the consultant and staff before presenting detailed findings and recommended goals to committees and the full council. Council members urged a paced process and staff said the proposal will be brought through committee review rather than rushed to a single vote.
No formal council action was taken during the update; staff said their next step is to meet with MGT and return with final data and recommended steps for committee review.
