A task force of local officials plans to team up with a Florida-based consulting company to study how well minority- and women-owned businesses are faring in Pittsburgh.
The Pittsburgh Regional Consortium will be working with the consultant MGT, headquartered in Tampa, to assess how much access those historically disadvantaged businesses have to local government contracts.
The study will analyze the challenges the businesses face, identify barriers to entry, and evaluate how well current policies work to help them obtain government contracts. Its results will be used to guide future policies and programs.
City officials told WESA Friday that the absence of a recent disparity study has made it more difficult to get participation from disadvantaged businesses. Still, the Gainey administration says it has taken some steps already, including the first-ever contracts to be awarded to LGBTQ-certified vendors,
The Consortium is an intergovernmental working group led by the City of Pittsburgh and made up of Allegheny County, the Housing Authority, the Urban Redevelopment Authority, Pittsburgh Water, the Parking Authority, and the Stadium Authority.
The city has set aside around $1.15 million dollars for the disparity study. It will gather data to evaluate business opportunities for the region's minority, women, and LGBTQ-owned businesses, especially when it comes to contracts with the city of Pittsburgh and the other public agencies involved in the Consortium. The other members of the Consortium also will contribute money towards the study.
It’s set to kick off early next year, and will take about 18 months to complete.
