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Consultants urge West Palm Beach to favor SBE/FBE goals after disparity study finds underutilization of MWBEs
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Summary
Griffin and Strong told the City Commission their 2026 disparity study (covering 10/01/2019–09/30/2024) found statistically significant underutilization of multiple minority‑ and women‑owned firm groups across several procurement categories and recommended shifting from race‑conscious MWBE goals to race‑ and gender‑neutral SBE/FBE contract goals, plus data and procurement reforms.
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 city reviews the findings.
The consultants framed recommendations to be consistent with existing case law: David Maher, the project's legal lead, said any race‑ or gender‑conscious remedial program must demonstrate a compelling governmental interest and be "narrowly tailored" to the specific groups and industry categories where statistically significant underutilization exists.
Based on the study results, Griffin and Strong recommended several changes the city could pursue without immediate commission action: transition from citywide MWBE goals to an FBE/SBE contract‑level goal approach; adopt a robust commercial nondiscrimination policy with monitoring and enforcement for prime contractors; replace race‑based prime bid discounts with SBE/FBE equivalents; require and standardize good‑faith‑effort criteria and waiver procedures; strengthen tracking and reporting of utilization by demographic groups; review bonding and insurance thresholds and the high number of single/sole‑source contracts; and implement data reforms such as mandatory vendor registration for bid tabulations and a centralized, filterable master contract dataset.
"We recommend that you transition from an MWBE mandatory goals program to an FBE mandatory goals program," Michelle Clark Jenkins, director of methodology and research for Griffin and Strong, told the commission during the recommendations section. The consultants emphasized data reform as an immediate priority, saying better contract and vendor datasets are required to monitor performance and to support any future program changes.
Commissioners and staff pressed consultants on implementation feasibility and near‑term priorities. The commission sought examples of "low‑hanging fruit" that could be implemented quickly; consultants said data reform and standardized tracking should come first. City Finance staff acknowledged existing prompt‑payment problems between primes and subcontractors and described recent staff training and internal controls aimed at reducing delays. The chair commented that "small businesses are certainly prone to struggling with billing issues," underlining the local urgency of prompt payments.
Multiple commissioners and staff raised an unusual count of single‑source (48) and sole‑source (120) contracts identified in the study period. Griffin and Strong recommended a deeper, contract‑level review to determine whether justifications met the city's procurement code and advised aligning ordinance language so single and sole‑source rules are consistently applied. Assistant City Administrator Armando Fano and City Administrator Faye Johnson cautioned that raw counts require case‑by‑case review (specialized suppliers or unique plant needs can be appropriate reasons for single sourcing) and committed to a deeper analysis and benchmarking against peer municipalities.
The consultants also highlighted positive city practices, including reciprocal certification arrangements with Palm Beach County and the Palm Beach County School District (which reduce duplicate paperwork for vendors), subcontractor utilization plans, outreach efforts, and programs that help some firms secure bonding.
No formal motion or vote occurred on the study during the meeting. Staff said they would work with consultants to incorporate commission feedback into a final report and bring implementation options back to the commission for consideration.
The commission moved to the next agenda item after the consultants closed their presentation and the meeting was adjourned shortly after at 11:25 a.m.
