The City of New Orleans completed the 2018 Disparity Study, which evaluated the spending, contracting patterns, and procurement practice of the city. The results revealed what was widely known, that there is a significant disparity in contract spending between white owned firms, women-owned firms, and minority-owned firms. Additionally, it was reported that only two (2) percent of private (non-city) contracts were awarded to minority-owned firms. It is clear that this economic disparity is a crisis and is affecting the entire community.
 
Therefore, HB-224 was initiated by The Collaborative, introduced by Representative Delisha Boyd, unanimously passed by the legislature, and signed into law by Governor Edwards. The purpose of the bill was to address this crisis in a direct and meaningful way. HB-224, now ACT-230, authorized a Socially and Economically Disadvantaged Business set-aside program in the City of New Orleans.
 
The intent is to establish a narrowly tailored program that would create a fertile pool of work where small and emerging certified DBE firms can compete against firms of like sizes. It should be noted that certified DBE firms can have as much as $23,000,000 of revenue annually. When you consider the disparity in city contracting and the disparity in private contracting, small and emerging firms simply cannot compete. A narrowly tailored set-aside program is intended to provide a foothold of opportunities for these firms. We envision that the existing Economic Business Opportunity program (EBO) will be modified to incorporate the new set-aside program.