Project Overview
The study will:
- define the County’s geographical area of doing business (‘marketplace’),
- compare available vendors in the area (‘availability’) against vendors that were contracted (‘utilized’) to calculate potential gaps (‘disparities’), and
- collect business owner experiences in doing business or attempting to do business with the County.
Legal Review & Framework: Review the legal framework on which disparity studies are based, including but not limited to, the standards established by the U.S. Supreme Court in City of Richmond v. J.A. Croson Co., as well as other relevant federal and state court cases, with emphasis on program and methodological requirements.
Procurement Policies, Practices, & Procedures Review and Analysis: Examine in detail the County’s procurement policies and procedures and review the policies and procedures that are currently governed in Board Policy 3-11, Outreach to Diverse Business Enterprises.
Data Evaluation, Collection, and Processing: Collect and assess payment data maintained by the County of Santa Clara. Data assessed will include prime contractor and subcontract payment data for construction, architectural and engineering projects, goods and services, and professional services purchases within the scope of the Study’s time period.
Relevant Geographic Market and Product Market Analyses: Perform an evaluation to determine the relevant geographic market and product market areas of expended dollars with firms based on their location.
Public Sector Utilization: Collect and analyze data on the utilization of diverse business enterprises or firms on the County’s prime contracts and subcontracts.
Estimation of DIV-BE Availability: Using various sources, estimate the availability of diverse business enterprises (DIV-BE) or firms in the relevant geographic and product markets.
Public Sector Disparity Ratios: Use calculations that help determine whether a disparity exists by creating a disparity index, as well as statistical significance testing.
Private Market Disparity and Nongoal Analyses: Identify the presence or absence of passive discrimination in the private sector.
Qualitative Analysis and Public Engagement: Gather qualitative or anecdotal information regarding contracting and purchasing practices in the relevant market area from diverse businesses and non-diverse businesses through community meetings, in-depth interviews, stakeholder interviews, and surveys.
Multivariate Analysis: Perform econometric analysis in terms of the contribution that each independent or explanatory variable in the model makes towards explaining differences or variation in the dependent variable.
Impacts of Marketplace Disequilibria: Analyze impact of marketplace disequilibria/shocks on availability, utilization, and viability of firms. Solicit information directly from businesses about how current marketplace disequilibria/shocks have impacted doing business with the County of Santa Clara.
Goals Setting: Using the finding of the utilization and availability, establish an annual aspirational goal for the County.
Final Report: MGT will develop a comprehensive report outlining the Disparity Study methodology, research findings, data analyses, and recommendations.