MDOT asks county leaders to encourage businesses in their jurisdictions, especially those that do business with local or state government, to complete the Disparity Study Vendor Survey.
The State of Maryland is conducting a comprehensive Utilization Study (last completed in 2017), to determine whether there is racial and/or gender discrimination in markets where the State does business. The State is believed to maintain one of the oldest Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) programs in the United States. The Study provides the legal underpinning for authorizing the state’s MBE program and ensures that state and federal social-economic preference programs may withstand legal scrutiny. Together, the State’s MBE and federal Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) programs ensure minority, woman-owned, and small businesses can freely and fairly compete for both federal and state procurement and contracting opportunities. The 2017 Study identified statistically significant wage and participation gaps between non-minority males and minority males and non-minority males and females in the State of Maryland.
When updated, the Disparity Study will be utilized by the State of Maryland to help set and evaluate MBE/DBE participation goals for public contracting opportunities. In addition to the State of Maryland’s commitment to the continuity of its social-economic preference programs, the Maryland Department of Transportation and the Moore-Miller Administration are committed to ensuring MBE/DBE participation in publicly funded projects.
However, MDOT needs county input to collect the data required for the Disparity Study. MDOT asks county leaders to encourage businesses in their jurisdictions, especially those that do business with local or state government, to complete the Disparity Study Vendor Survey. This information is critical to protecting and enhancing our State’s wealth-generation opportunities for entrepreneurs of all backgrounds. The Maryland Vendor Survey is available here. Additionally, the State of Maryland is hosting focus groups to hear directly from business owners and impacted groups. Please visit MDOT’s Business Owner Opportunity website here to participate in a focus group and learn more about other opportunities to get involved.
