Minority business contracts increase

HAMPTON, Va. (WAVY) - Hampton has nearly quadrupled the number of contracts awarded to minority and women-owned businesses in the past year.

The City of Hampton and city schools awarded 31 contracts to minority and women-owned business in fiscal year 2011, up from eight contracts in fiscal year 2010, according to a city news release.

More than 20 percent of all city and school contracts went to minority and women-owned businesses, totaling $8.9 million.

Two years ago, the city instituted an evaluation process to examine the utilization of minority and women-owned businesses in city and school purchasing.

"We've continued to evolve this process, and have strived to better our statistics. We're one of the few cities in the region who have even started this process. We are probably the furthest along because we've done the formal disparity study and plan to update that this year. We're very proud of our efforts," said City Manager Mary Bunting.

The results of a 2009 disparity study showed that minority and woman-owned businesses were not getting a fair share of the procurement dollars. As a result, the city implemented a number of practices to increase the use of minority and women-owned businesses in city purchasing, such as creating a small business directory for city staff to reference when soliciting quotes and delivering electronic notifications to minority and women-owned businesses about contracting opportunities with the city.