The city-parish on Dec. 1 will launch its first-ever Disadvantaged Business Enterprise certification program, following recommendations from a 2019 disparity study that found businesses owned by women, minorities and veterans were being underutilized for the city-parish’s purchases and contracts.
The creation of the Socially and Economically Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Certification Program will, for the first time, allow minority-, women- and veteran-owned small businesses to receive a key designation in procurement and contracts with the city-parish government. The program will also allow businesses to qualify for contracts with the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport and BREC with the same joint certification.
Chiefly, the new DBE program aims to address a common hurdle among local small business owners: the need to obtain multiple certifications from different organizations.
In a prepared statement, Mayor Sharon Weston Broome, who today announced the launch of the program, reflected on why she inked a $300,000 deal with Denver-based Keen Independent Research to conduct the disparity study in 2018.
“The intention of the disparity study was to determine how the city-parish could implement equitable policies that create an equal playing field for businesses in our parish,” Broome said in a prepared statement. “Our joint certification program is a significant stride in our push for equity.”
The study found that only 4% of the approximately $2.4 billion in city-parish contract dollars from January 2013 through September 2017 went to minority and/or women-owned firms, while only 1% went to veteran-owned businesses. Broome’s office points to other ongoing efforts to address disparities, including Equity in Business seminars, outreach programs at BTR, and the Baton Rouge Procurement Opportunities Partnership.
BREC Superintendent Corey Wilson, in another prepared statement, says the certification program aligns with his agency’s current initiatives to create an equity and fairness program in order to increase procurement opportunities for socially and economically disadvantaged groups within Baton Rouge.
Meanwhile, BTR director Mike Edwards says a streamlined joint certification process for the airport’s locally funded projects will increase ease of access and participation, when paired with its longstanding DBE program for federally funded projects.
