Harford Disparity Study On County Government Contracts Released

BEL AIR, MD — Harford County has released the results from an independent study

of “possible disparities in Harford County government contract awards,” and is making changes to the bidding process.

Commissioned in 2022, the study analyzed whether there is a statistically significant difference between the number of qualified minority contractors willing and able to perform work and the number of contracts awarded.

“When I took office six months ago I recognized, without needing a formal study, that participation in county government contract awards could be improved for minority and women-owned businesses,” County Executive Bob Cassilly said in a statement. “I began by taking steps that were later recommended in this study, and we will be acting on other recommendations identified in the final report. We must remove barriers to full participation and my administration will continue to move forward, evaluate results, and work with community leaders to achieve our goals.”

The following actions are either underway or being planned:

• Encouraging vendors to register with eMaryland Marketplace Advantage to enhance bidding opportunities and to certify their minority status with MDOT to improve access to minority preferences.
• Unbundling contracts by amount and scope to increase bidding opportunities for smaller and/or minority-owned businesses.
• Developing vendor contact events to encourage discussion between vendors and county agencies and provide a forum for educating minority vendors about procurement policies, procedures, and bidding processes.
• Increasing county outreach through collaboration with local business organizations and internal research to identify new and existing minority-owned businesses.
• Providing advance notice of upcoming bid opportunities, when feasible.

The study was conducted by Griffin & Strong P.C. of Atlanta, GA, and the report is published on the county website.