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Hello Lisa,
September was a big month for Minority-Owned Businesses in Rhode Island. RIBBA held a meeting with Attorney General Peter F. Neronha and his team. The meeting had a high attendance of over 60 Small Business Professionals, most of whom were RIBBA clients. Our members had the opportunity to give feedback about their experience with the MBE certification program, and their experience working with the state and competing for state contracts.
What’s Next? Attorney General Neronha took suggestions to share with the Department of Administration on how to increase the constructiveness of the program and will also get their ideas on the process and current state of MBE enforcement. RIBBA is also building a Policy & Advocacy MBE enforcement working group that will engage in advocacy aid for our clients. We are projected to have updates in November 2023!
According to the 2021 disparity study, the state has contracted over $900 million in construction purchase orders during the study period with non-minority male businesses receiving about 94% of those awards and the MBEs only receiving approximately 2%, despite being comparable in size, capable and readily available to perform contracts at much higher rates.
"Black and Brown businesses have been overlooked and underutilized in this state for far too long," said Lisa Ranglin, President & CEO of RIBBA. "We will continue to fight for these businesses to have opportunities to participate and to call out Rhode Island officials who fail to make that a reality."
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