The 2017 Disparity Study examined whether a disparity existed in the City’s contracting and procurement processes and examined how minority- and women-owned businesses have received opportunities to participate in public contracts. Colette Holt & Associates was retained by the City to perform the study. The agencies that were part of the Study consortium consisted of City of Kansas City, Mo., Kansas City Area Transportation Authority, Jackson County, Mo., and the Kansas City, Mo. Public Schools.
The City of Kansas City, Missouri's M/WBE program was established in 1996 to encourage the utilization of small business enterprises owned and controlled by minority, women, and disadvantaged individuals on City contracts. In 2006, the City commissioned a Second Generation Disparity Study that forms the basis of the current M/WBE program. As a follow-up to the 2006 Disparity Study, the City of Kansas City, Mo. commissioned a new Study in 2015. The findings of the Study strongly suggested that minorities and women continue to suffer discriminatory barriers to full and fair access to City contracts. The Study results fully supported the City’s continuing interest in implementing its race- and gender-conscious Minority- and Women-Owned Business Enterprise Programs.
Read the KCMO Disparity Study 2017.
(NOTE: CREO was formerly known as the Human Relations Department, or HRD.)
