Durham reports gains in minority- and women‑owned contracting after EBO policy changes

Durham city officials reported measurable increases in participation by minority- and women-owned businesses in city contracting during a presentation at the City Council meeting on March 13.

The city’s Deputy Chief Financial Officer Sheila Fawcett said the city adopted an EBOP implementation policy effective July 1, 2024, and made several process changes intended to raise participation. “We increased certified minority and women businesses in our database from 201 in December 2023 to roughly 470 as of June 30, 2024,” Fawcett told the council. She attributed part of the change to a data‑validation effort to remove duplicates and consolidate vendor records.

Timothy Jackson, who led the procurement presentation, described a package of reforms including user‑centered solicitation design, coordinated outreach with the North Carolina HUB office, additional evaluation points for firms demonstrating familiarity with EBOP, and a “good faith efforts” scoring system for solicitations that cannot carry specific participation goals. “Outreach plans and an incentivized scoring approach helped solicitations attract more bidders and rewarded proposers that actively included MUBE and WBE firms,” he said.

The report presented performance numbers for fiscal 2024. For prime contracts in professional services, staff reported MUBE prime participation of 17 percent (goal 8 percent) and said WBE participation in the goods category met a 4 percent result. Construction prime results showed 7 percent MUBE prime participation (goal 11 percent) and 19 percent WBE prime participation (goal 7 percent). In subcontracting, the city reported 30 percent MUBE participation and 16 percent WBE participation in professional services; staff said payments to MWBE subcontractors rose by more than $1 million in most categories compared with 2023.

Jackson and Fawcett said the data‑validation work—verifying vendor profiles and certifications in the city’s procurement system—was central to the improved reporting. “We validated more than 400 vendors and positioned the data for the city’s new ERP,” Jackson said.

Council members pressed staff on next steps. Council Member Cook asked whether community partners find the process accessible; Jackson said the office has added technical assistance through the Women’s Business Center and Small Business Technology Center and has held targeted outreach events tied to large projects. Council Member Rist and Mayor Williams praised the improvements but urged sustained outreach, language access, and coordination with workforce and economic development to deepen the contractor pipeline.

Fawcett also briefed council on a planned disparity study the city expects to start in mid‑2025. She said staff aims for a consultant recommendation in May and a contract award in June; the study would run about one year and is intended to support any legally required showing of “compelling interest” if the city adopts race‑ or gender‑conscious measures in future procurement.

Mayor Williams and other council members thanked staff for the work and encouraged council presence at outreach events. The presentation generated extended council discussion but no formal action or vote; staff said they will return with additional updates and proposed program changes as the disparity study and new ERP data become available.

Ending

City staff left the council with a timetable for the disparity study and with an offer to bring additional materials on targeted outreach, certification assistance, and cross‑departmental coordination to support sustained increases in MUBE and WBE participation.