+ BUSINESS
Palm Beach County commissioners are demanding more information before deciding whether to renew a program designed to help minority owned businesses obtain work on county contracts.
The Small/Minority/Women Business Enterprise program was created in 2019 after a review showed that firms owned by women and minorities may not be getting their fair share of county work. At issue was how to overcome barriers that were keeping them out of the market.
The goals were to increase the number of women and minority-owed firms that are certified to do county contract work, boost the amount of that work and create an environment where the firms “graduate” beyond the revenue limits that qualify them for participation in the program.
Sixteen of the 21 graduating firms from the county program were whiteowned. Two were owned by AsianAmericans, and three by Hispanics. No Black-owned firm graduated from 2019 through 2022, according to data presented to county commissioners at a meeting last week.
Commissioner Sara Baxter called the program “a failure,” pointing to its low graduation rates. She urged her colleagues to devise a new program and shut down the existing one. But the move failed to obtain any support.
County Administrator Verdenia Baker, though, was called on to provide detailed information by July 21, 2024. The commission will then decide whether to renew the program for two more years and whether to allocate $500,000 for a new disparity study. The money was not included in the budget, an omission that will force the county to dip into its reserve fund.
Several commissioners were furious over the failure to include the appropriation in the budget.
Commissioner Maria Marino was also critical that a 200-plus page report was provided just the day before the Nov. 7 meeting. Marino complained the administration has repeatedly given voluminous reports to commissioners too late for them to be reviewed.
“This cannot happen again,” she said. “This is not about this program. It is about the systemic failure by the county (staff) to provide us with information in a timely fashion.”