This document discusses advocacy for minority contractors and economic development. It aims to eliminate barriers preventing growth of African American and minority owned businesses. It outlines economic benefits of building wealth for minorities such as higher paying jobs. However, minority businesses face challenges like lack of access to capital and contracting opportunities. The document proposes strategic goals and legislation to improve small business participation in state contracting and establish accountability for minority business utilization.

1. Economic
Community
Development
Advocacy for Minority Contractors
Dr. Lana Turner-Addison, November 27, 2012

2. Goal
Eliminating Barriers that
prevent the growth of
African-American owned
and minority owned
businesses.
Minority-owned businesses is defined as
a business that is 51 percent owned
and controlled by one or more
members of the following minority
groups (African Americans, Asian Pacific
Islander Americans, Indian American,
Hispanic American).

3. Economic Benefit of Building
Wealth for Minorities
• Contributes to creating lasting, and
higher-paying jobs.
• To provide a cost-competitive and
highly capable human capital and
supply base for consumers,
corporations and government.
• Providing access to beneficial and
sustained procurement opportunities for
both smaller and larger minority-owned
businesses.
• Fosters and develop future leadership to
further support economic community
well being and wealth building amongst
minorities, specifically African
Americans.

4. Economic Challenges facing
Minority Business
1. Government pressures to dismantle
set-aside programs have escalated.
2. Government pressure to dismantle
Affirmative Action Programs.
3. Lack of commitment to support the
creation and development of more
MBE’s.
4. Global Competition
5. Lack of Enforcement of
Contractor/Subcontractor Compliance
(State, COT, Federal Contracts,
Grants).

5. Capital/Financing
African-American firms are positioned least favorably
compared to other subgroups in attracting capital:
• Poverty in the Black community made it difficult
for proprietors to generate the cash-flow
necessary for business growth.
• Potential Black entrepreneurs could not obtain
formal business training.
• Black merchants were disadvantaged by limited
access to capital due to discrimination in
lending by White-owned banks and the
underdevelopment of Black banking.
• Due to restrictive covenants in real estate and
business licensing, Black store owners often were
unable to acquire locations on main business
streets.
COMMUNITY REINVESTEMTN ACT

6. Economic Development
Strategic Goal 2013-2014
Small Business Participation
Improve the ability of small
businesses to participate in the
State contracting process:
• Promote and encourage the
utilization of minority and
female owned businesses.
• Increasing support of Minority
and Business Enterprises
(MBE) programs
• Certifications
(Universal/Local).

7. Economic Development
Strategic Goal 2013-2014
Contractor Compliance:
•Monitor and track
compliance with law and/or
regulations of business
contracting within the
State of Oklahoma (Local,
state and Federal Equal
Employment Opportunity)
•Accountability
•Enforcement

8. Responsibilities of Leadership
and Advocacy Groups
• Minority and non-minority elected
officials becoming highly
supportive of promoting growth
among small and larger minority
businesses
• Black Caucus Leadership serving as
principle advocate for MBE’s and
challenging (internal/external)
systems to address current / or
potential contracting violations.
• Transperancy in reporting to ensure
that Good Faith Efforts are being
made to utilize MBE’s on Federal,
Grant and State contracts.
• Recommending action to improve
overall environment for MBE’s.

9. Establishing Accountability
for Minority Participation
 Oklahoma State Statute requiring
that a ___ minimum of the total
number of state contracts and/or
dollar value of state contracts and
purchase orders are to be allocated
to small MFBE’s.
 Require that all municipalities submit
an annual “Minority Business
Utilization Plan” outlining strategies
to increase their spending with
MFBE’s.

10. Minority Owned Business
Court Decisions
Adarand Constructors v. Pena and City
of Richmond v. J.A. Croson Co., have
mandated that federal and state
programs aimed exclusively at minority
owned business must now past the test
of “narrow tailoring.”
• Under such a test, procurement
programs are required to be race-
neutral except when remedying
specific instances of past
discrimination toward a particular
group. Moreover, quotas or “set-
asides "are prohibited, and replaced
with more ubiquitous goals and
objectives. Consequently, certain
state and federal agency guidelines

11. Contracting Disparity Gap
Challenges
1. The discriminatory conditions that
previously existed were deep and
pervasive and have not been fully
reversed.
2. Even more damaging than blatant
discrimination has been the negative
effect of abuse and fraud in the
programs established to help minority
businesses grow and develop (So-
called front companies continually
raise concerns about the objectives
and impact of supplier diversity
programs and initiatives).
3. Some minority business have been
unable or unwilling - to adjust to a
changing global economy.

12. Economic/Community Well Being
North Tulsa Demographics Compared to
State of Oklahoma Average
• Median house value below state average.
• Unemployed percentage below state average.
• Black race population percentage significantly below
state average.
• Hispanic race population percentage below state
average.
• Foreign-born population percentage significantly below
state average.
• Renting percentage below state average.
• Length of stay since moving in signifiicantly below
state average.
• Percentage of population with a bachelor's degree
or higher below state average.
http://www.city-data.com/city/North-Tulsa-Oklahoma.html#ixzz1vQeWaMAj

13. Proposed Legislation Supporting
MWDBE aka MFBE Utilization
Note: Additional Information Available

14. Minority Business Development,
key to U.S. Economic Wealth
Building
 Supply Side  Demand Side
Impact Impact
During the
decade between  Minority consumers
2002 and 2012, the will drive demand
U.S. Bureau of Labor over the next 20
Statistics (BLS) years. The
estimates that 70% purchasing power of
of the approximately ethnic minority
17 million people groups is growing by
who will enter the 7.2% annually
U.S. labor force will
be ethnic minorities,
equating to more
than one-third of a
total labor force
estimated to be 162
million

15. GROWING ~5% ANNUALLY, MINORITIES WILL
ACCOUNT FOR 40% OF POPULATION BY 2050
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, National Estimates, Annual Population Estimates by
Sex, Race, and Hispanic Origin, Selected Years From 1990 to 2000