RI Black Business Association issues state a failing grade after Disparity Report release

A study completed in November of last year but released to the public on Tuesday drew a harsh response from RIBBA, the Rhode Island Black Business Association on Thursday. The State of Rhode Island paid Mason Tillman Associates half a million dollars to conduct the Disparity Study, which finds evidence of discrimination against Black and women owned businesses by the state.

Under Rhode Island General Law 37-14.1, minority business enterprises (MBE) and women business enterprises (WBE) should be targeted for participation in all procurement and construction projects and shall be awarded a minimum of ten percent of all dollar value of the procurement or project. The Disparity Report found statistically significant disparities in the awarding of procurement and construction contracts.

“Why did it take them this long [to release the Disparity Report],” asked RIBBA’s Executive Director Lisa Ranglin. “Are you just protecting your political interests? … Are you just protecting your desire to get to higher office?

“The other thing I should note is that the people who did this study are nowhere around this year to answer questions… because they gave the report last year,” said Lisa Ranglin. “The State, when they shared the report recently, they did not take any questions. They actually disabled the chat feature.” Questions had to be submitted via email.

Read more: https://upriseri.com/ribba-disparity-report/