Durham County is joining a long line of local administrative governments working to adopt an equitable and fair approach toward government contracting and procurement dollars.

Durham County has hired Miller3 Consulting, Inc., to conduct a Disparity Study. It will look at the County's contract records for the previous five years in the areas of construction, goods, services, architecture, and engineering services to assess the effectiveness of the current programs and recommend any necessary modifications and adjustments that comply with the legal regulations.

Disparity Studies are essential to assess whether creating, continuing, or modifying programs intended to promote the participation of minority & women business enterprises (MWBE) in government contracting is legally justified. 

The study period of the disparity study runs from 1 July 2016 through 30 June 2021. The study schedule for the disparity study started by M3 Consulting in June 2022 and will be finished by the end of summer 2023.

The County and M3 Consulting began the 2022 Durham County Disparity Study by holding virtual meetings with representatives from several County departments. The study's data collection process started with an evaluation and comprehension of the contracting and vendor data maintained by the County.

M3 Consulting has conducted one-on-one interviews, focus groups, and public engagement to promote community engagement in the Disparity Study. They have also undertaken a capacity survey during the winter of 22/23. 

The final evaluation and report are still awaited at the time of writing this article.