NYC Disparity Study

Analyzing data and hearing from businesses to learn about equity, challenges, and opportunities in City contracting.

On behalf of the City of New York (City), the NYC Department of Small Business Services (SBS) has partnered with the CUNY Institute for State & Local Governance (CUNY ISLG) to conduct a Disparity Study examining equity in procurement and contracting by City agencies.

To conduct the study, CUNY ISLG will perform analyses of the City’s data combined with direct outreach to business owners to learn more about

  • their businesses 

  • barriers they have faced in doing business or attempting to do business with the City 

  • how processes can be improved to further the City’s goals for fairness and equity 

All businesses are strongly encouraged to participate to ensure that the Disparity Study is comprehensive. Participating businesses will be entered into raffles for gift cards of $200 or more for completing this brief Business Experience Survey, open to all, or responding to a direct invitation to share their thoughts.

More details can be found below.

About the Project

On behalf of the City of New York (City), the NYC Department of Small Business Services (SBS) has partnered with the CUNY Institute for State & Local Governance (CUNY ISLG) to conduct a Disparity Study examining equity in procurement and contracting by City agencies.

The primary goals of the Disparity Study are to:

  • Examine whether minority- and women-owned businesses are getting an equitable share of City contracts in key industries where the city purchases goods and services

    • CUNY ISLG will collect data regarding the availability of businesses owned by minorities and women, and their utilization as contractors and subcontractors on City contracts 

  • Understand businesses’ experience working with, or attempting to work with the city, including barriers to finding, responding to, or obtaining contracts, and what the City can do differently to make things fairer and more efficient.  

The results from the prior Disparity Study laid the foundation to update the program through: 

  • Inclusion of additional ethnic categories (Native American-owned businesses and professional services-based Asian American-owned businesses);

  • Legislative changes to prioritize minority- and women-owned businesses (M/WBEs) for certain goods and services, expand price or point preferences for M/WBEs for certain types of solicitations, and create a small business construction mentorship program; and 

  • Launching new program services aimed at helping M/WBEs better navigate selling to government and performing on City contracts. 

We want to hear from you!

CUNY ISLG will be seeking businesses to participate through a combination of surveys, interviews, and focus groups. Business participation is crucial to the success of the Disparity Study to both: 

  • Gain an accurate picture of the number of minority- and women-owned businesses and other vendors available to do business with the City; and  

  • Fully understand the experience of businesses doing or attempting to do business with the City, how any barriers present themselves, and how they might be overcome.

Participation in the Business Experience Survey is open to ALL business owners. 

All businesses can make their voices heard by responding to our brief Business Experience Survey, available in English, Spanish, Traditional Chinese, and Russian. This is your chance to tell the City what is and isn’t working in its contracting process, and what would help your business succeed. The survey is open to all business owners and decision-makers and is expected to take roughly 10 minutes of your time. In exchange for completing the survey, you will be entered into a raffle to win one of 15 $200 gift cards.

Participation in interviews and focus groups will be by invitation only.  If you receive an email or phone call from CUNY ISLG or our partner, Ebony Marketing Systems (EMS), asking you to participate, please respond—t means that your participation is essential for CUNY ISLG to develop an accurate and representative study. In addition to providing key information for the study, you will be entered into raffles to win one of 40 gift cards of $200 or more, depending on the activity. More information will be available in the invitation to participate. 

Individual responses to interviews, focus groups, and the business experience survey will be kept strictly confidential. While CUNY ISLG will share overall information obtained in order to provide recommendations for the City, this information will never be attached to the names of individual businesses or business owners.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

  • A disparity study for contracting compares any differences in the proportion of government contracts or dollars going to minority- and women-owned businesses and the proportion of minority- and women-owned businesses in the marketplace.  Disparities in these proportions can be evidence of discrimination. The study is generally used to justify and support programs aimed at helping minority- and women-owned businesses. 

    Disparity studies also include anecdotal evidence, meaning what we hear directly from businesses about their experiences and observations to provide additional context. In this study, anecdotal evidence will be collected using interviews, focus groups, and a Business Experience Survey. The business experience survey is open to all business owners or decision-makers regardless of a business’ or individual’s race or gender status.  

  • A disparity study provides a legal justification for jurisdictions or agencies to establish or continue minority- and women-owned business enterprise (M/WBE) programs. In 1989, the U.S. Supreme Court in City of Richmond v. J.A. Croson Co. (488 U.S. 469) held that jurisdictions must present compelling evidence of discrimination against minority-owned businesses to award them preferential treatment in contracting processes. Since then, disparity studies have been used to provide the foundation for race-conscious remedial programs such as M/WBE programs.  

  • This study will involve five key components:

    1. Geographic market analysis: will establish the counties where the majority of contracts and dollars are awarded.  

    2. Utilization analysis: will establish the proportion of contracts and dollar value of contracts going to M/WBEs overall and by specific race, ethnicity, and gender classification.  

    3. Availability analysis: will be used to estimate the proportion of businesses in the marketplace that are owned by minorities and/or women overall and by specific race, ethnicity, and gender classification.  

    4. Disparity analysis: will compare the proportion of contracts and dollars going to M/WBEs to the proportion of minority- and women-owned business in the marketplace to see whether there differences overall and for each race, ethnicity, and gender classifications.  

    5. Anecdotal assessment: will investigate the experiences of businesses engaging or attempting to engage in City contracting processes — and any experiences of discrimination in those processes. This will be collected through interviews, focus groups, and a Business Experience Survey.

  • The City will use the findings from the Disparity Study to assess whether it should make any changes to its M/WBE program, including but not limited to the goals for participation for different groups based on race, ethnicity, and gender. It will also help to inform the provision of supports and services to different types of businesses.

    Based on the findings from the 2018 Disparity Study, the city implemented several initiatives to support M/WBEs including: 

    • Expanding the program to include Native American-owned businesses for the first time, as well as establishing contract goals for Asian American-owned professional services-based businesses; 

    • prioritizing M/WBEs through expanding the City’s authority to grant discretionary purchases for goods, services, and construction to City-Certified M/WBEs; 

    • Launching new program services aimed at helping M/WBEs better navigate selling to government and performing on City contracts like the City’s 

      • Contract Legal Services program designed to educate certified firms on business related legal services, contract negotiation, and minimizing risk; and 

      • M/WBE Mentors Program created to educate and foster peer mentorship and networking, with successful business owners guiding newer M/WBEs. 

    • Launching a Construction Mentorship program for small businesses, providing educational and technical support resources while enabling them to bid as prime contractors on projects valued between $1.5 million and $5 million. 

  • Individual responses to interviews, focus groups, and the Business Experience Survey will be kept strictly confidential. While CUNY ISLG will provide information about what is working well, any barriers, and recommendations for improvement to the City, this information will not be attached to the names of individual businesses or business owners. Business names and owners will only be included in the lists of firms available to work with the City.  

Questions? Comments?

Contact us at disparitystudy@islg.cuny.edu or fill out the form below.

Team Members

CUNY ISLG

Victoria Lawson | Research Project Director | Victoria.Lawson@islg.cuny.edu

Kailey Spencer | Senior Research Associate

Diana Spahia | Senior Research Associate

Kate Jassin | Research Associate

Brian Holliday | Data Scientist

Ebony Marketing Systems

Kai Fuentes | Founder and President

 

New York City Department of Small Business Services (SBS)

Tenisha Dyer | Deputy Commissioner

Nancy Andiloro | Executive Director of Strategy & Analytics

 Abdullah Nadeem | Program Analyst and Disparity Study Project Manager

Nicolas Wical | Senior Data Analyst

About the CUNY Institute for State & Local Governance (CUNY ISLG)

CUNY ISLG is a good governance think-and-do tank that works with government and non-government organizations to improve the structure, financing, delivery, measurement, and evaluation of critical public services. We are driven by the idea that data-informed approaches can measurably improve the way government and public institutions operate, equitably serve all constituents, and ultimately solve social policy problems. With the necessary research, policies, partnerships, and infrastructures, we help government and public institutions work more effectively, efficiently, and in the interest of all communities.

Our senior leadership has collectively more than 70 years of experience working in both the state and city levels of government, including successfully managing multi-billion-dollar operating and capital budgets. Our analytical and practical expertise includes action research, disparity analysis, program evaluation, community engagement, performance measurement, data and analytic capacity-building, cost-benefit analysis, and strategic planning.

Visit our website at islg.cuny.edu to learn more about our work and experience.

About the NYC Department of Small Business Services (SBS)

SBS helps unlock economic potential and create economic security for all New Yorkers by connecting New Yorkers to good jobs, creating stronger businesses, and building thriving neighborhoods across the five boroughs. For more information on all SBS services, go to nyc.gov/sbs, call 888-SBS-4NYC, and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.  

About Ebony Marketing Systems (EMS)

EMS is a certified M/WBE multicultural, multilingual marketing research and management consulting firm providing a full array of quantitative and qualitative research services. EMS prides itself in asking the right questions, of the right people, so its clients can make key decisions. It conducts extensive multi-sector research in healthcare, transportation, utilities, media messaging, government and multiculturally specific markets.

To learn more about EMS, visit their website at www.ebonysystems.com.