Disparity study finds substantial underutilization of firms owned by people of color and women in Little Rock contracting

Sameer Bawa, managing director with BBC Research and Consulting, told the Little Rock Board of Directors that the 2025 disparity study examined about $160 million in city prime and subcontract awards from 2019 through 2023 and estimated the marketplace availability of firms in a six‑county relevant market.

"One of the core analyses ... is designed specifically to calculate the percentage of dollars that the city awarded to small and disadvantaged businesses," Bawa said, summarizing the study’s methodology and data sources. BBC matched contract characteristics to firm characteristics to estimate how much city work the market could reasonably support.

The study found that 88% of city contracting dollars went to firms that were neither owned by people of color nor by white women, while the remaining 12% was split across minority and women‑owned groups. When…