Celeste
Metcalf, the new director of the Equal Opportunity Office for the
state Office of Administration, will be making historical shifts in
the way Missouri does business.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Her first history-paving task is to raise $600,000 to $800,000 for a state-wide disparity study. Her assignment is to make Missouri the first state to fund a disparity study by asking for donations among its state agencies and private donors, rather than including it in the state budget. The last statewide disparity study in Missouri was conducted more than 15 years ago.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>When the Legislature declined the request for a disparity study last year, Kelvin L. Simmons, commissioner for the Office of Administration, was not discouraged. A veteran of state government, he has built the infrastructure for minority participation goals in Missouri before, and he knows why the study is important.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“We’ve got to have a better opportunity to have a policy that works,” he said. “Without a disparity study, courts will not uphold lawsuits brought against the state for inclusion.”
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>In the 1990s, Simmons worked with Gov. Mel Carnahan on an executive order, which put into place the first participation goals in state contracting for Minority Business Enterprises (MBEs) and Women Business Enterprises (WBEs) at 10 percent and five percent, respectively.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>In 2004, those goals were dismantled under Gov. Matt Blunt’s administration.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“If we would have been achieving the objectives of 10 percent and 5 percent since 2005 to today, MBEs and WBEs would have received the benefit of hundreds of millions of dollars,” Simmons said.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“But because we have not been achieving those objectives – largely because you have a stale disparity study and you don’t have the teeth in the executive order to be able to mandate it – there’s money on the table that was lost and will never come back,” he said. “And we can show that.”
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>The new study would look at the capability and readiness of MBEs and WBEs, primarily in the area of goods and commodities.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Currently, 7.38 percent of all the state agencies’ expenditures are procured from MBEs and 2.32 percent from WBEs. That’s far cry from the state requirement of 10 percent and 5 percent that was mandated under Carnahan.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>In July 2010, Gov. Jay Nixon signed executive order 10-24 outlining a workforce diversity plan, but it does not include minority participation goals for state contracts. Without an up-to-date disparity study, setting specific goals could do more harm than good, Simmons said.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“We can’t afford to make that mistake again,” Simmons said.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>About nine years after the state conducted its first statewide disparity study in 1995 and 1996, a lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in the western district of Missouri challenging the MBE program. In January 2005, a preliminary injunction was issued, ordering the Office of Administration and the State of Missouri to suspend the placing of MBE/WBE requirements in any state procurement.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Even though the lawsuit never went to court, the MBE program was never reinstituted. Sadly, Simmons watched the vibrant progress of the program quickly fizzle to nothing.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>For instance, in 2000 the state’s Department of Insurance had 10 percent WBE/MBE participation, the Economic Development department had 7.4 percent and the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations had 7 percent.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>By 2003, those numbers went up to 48 percent, 26 percent and 19 percent, respectively.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Yet shortly after the injunction, there was no minority business advocacy at the state level, and that was reflected in the participation numbers for state agencies. The Department of Insurance’s MBE/WBE participation went down to 0.1 percent, the Economic Development to 13 percent and Labor Industrial Relations was at 0.4 percent.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Simmons said that Gov. Jay Nixon’s administration has aggressively begun rebuilding “the house” of inclusion. The administration reconstituted the Minority Business Advocacy Commission, and now Metcalf will direct the workforce diversity plan as per Nixon’s July 2010 executive order.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>This year the Legislature again failed to allot funds for the disparity study. Instead they put a $1 line item in the annual budget for the study, which allows Metcalf and her team to establish a bank account for donations. In January 2012, Simmons would like to show “in dramatic fashion” how much support they’ve received from the community, he said.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>While fundraising for the study, Metcalf will be calling on MBEs, WBEs, state agencies, corporations and foundations that have an interest in inclusion.
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“This is about the success of all and not just a few,” Metcalf said. “I believe this is not about just satisfying the minority or the women community. I believe this will uplift all entities in the entire state.”
