Consultants urge West Palm Beach to favor SBE/FBE goals after disparity study finds underutilization of MWBEs

Consultants from Griffin and Strong presented the City Commission with a 2026 disparity study showing statistically significant underutilization of multiple minority‑ and women‑owned business groups in West Palm Beach contracting and recommended race‑neutral reforms and improved data systems.

The study covered fiscal years 10/01/2019 through 09/30/2024 and used the Miami–Fort Lauderdale–West Palm Beach MSA as the relevant market area, the consultants said. "Of that $220,000,000, MBEs received 12.61%, while WBEs received 2%," Calvin Walden, the project's data analyst, told the commission, summarizing prime‑contract dollars in construction. Across the five industry categories the consultants analyzed, total utilization (prime plus subcontractors) assigned roughly 14.85% of contracting dollars to MWDs and 85.15% to non‑MWDs, the presentation said.

"We are providing you with just information, not requesting any action or anything like that," Frank Hayden, director of the city's Office of Small Business, told the commission at the start of the briefing. He added that the mayor had issued an executive order to "put our MWBE program on the shelf" for the time being while the…