Experts urge mentor‑protege programs, prompt payment and project‑level goals to grow minority and women‑owned suppliers

Charlotte council members heard national and regional practitioners advise several practical reforms to expand minority‑ and women‑owned business participation on large public projects, including mentor‑protégé programs, prompt‑payment rules and project‑by‑project, commodity‑specific goals.

Monica Allen (assistant city manager) introduced a panel that included Franklin Lee (legal advisor with long experience in disparity studies), Eulace Cleckley (infrastructure and urban projects), and Marcus Kirkman (business inclusion manager, Asheville). The experts emphasized that legal constraints exist, but local leaders can still adopt a mix of tools that increase participation while reducing legal risk.

Key recommendations and examples from the panel:

- Project‑level goals and objective scoring: Experts urged councils to set participation goals that are specific to each contract and informed by availability analyses. Franklin Lee recommended evaluating waiver requests concurrently and using an objective scoring rubric so bidders are treated consistently.

- Mentor‑protégé and joint‑venture arrangements: Panelists described mentor‑protégé relationships and joint ventures as reliable ways to increase capacity. Eulace Cleckley noted that several firms that began as protégés later became prime contractors on large projects; he urged structured support from primes, including back‑office assistance, technical mentoring and shared staff.

- Prompt payment and cash flow: Panelists argued that speed of payment is a competitive advantage for small firms. Franklin Lee and others cited a public program that cut invoice payment to 48 hours for construction managers on public school projects — an administrative change that reduced financing costs and lowered overall program expenses.

- Equitable distribution and rotation lists for professional services: The panel described how cities can create pools for architectural/engineering and other professional services and allocate task orders through an equitable rotation so prequalified firms receive repeated opportunities to build track records.

- Capacity building and outreach: Cities should invest in training, outreach and pre‑bid engagement. Marcus Kirkman highlighted Asheville’s “Inspire” list and one‑on‑one pre‑bid meetings that connect project managers to minority vendors before bids are issued. The panel also described how targeted summits and meet‑the‑prime events reduce the excuse that “we couldn’t find qualified vendors.”

Legal context and risk: Franklin Lee reviewed national trends in litigation and said cities should follow narrowly‑tailored, evidence‑based approaches that rely on disparity studies and economic impact analysis. He cautioned about emerging national litigation against equity‑based programs and recommended thorough documentation, transparent scoring and defensible procurement procedures.

Council and staff reaction: Council members pressed for concrete next steps: improved pre‑bid outreach, faster invoice payment pilots (staff highlighted a 15‑day quick‑pay pilot), mentor‑protégé pilots on a subset of projects, and clear, district‑level maps of investments to support business outreach. Staff said they will fold the panel’s recommendations into a three‑year roadmap and return with proposals for pilot rules and tracking systems.

Why this matters: Charlotte expects to scale capital work significantly over the next decades; experts said that without deliberate capacity building and cash‑flow changes, small minority firms may not be able to compete for or benefit from the resulting work. The panel’s unanimous message: set reasonable, transparent goals, pay quickly and invest in capacity.

Next steps: Staff committed to a formal MWSBE strategic plan and a three‑year roadmap; staff will present draft pilot procedures for prompt pay, mentor‑protégé programs and project‑by‑project goal setting to council committees.