In 2019, King County awarded $2.1 billion in contracts. King County’s strategic equity goals include expanding contracting opportunities to MWBEs. While Washington state law prohibits preferential treatment in contracting, it allows agencies to set voluntary goals for contracting with MWBEs. The state attorney general has interpreted state law to allow for some race- and sex-conscious measures in contracting (so long as they do not favor a less-qualified contractor over a more-qualified one).

King County disproportionately contracted with White-owned small businesses while under-contracting with Black-owned and Latinx/Hispanic-owned small businesses. After state law banned race-based preferential treatment in contracting in 1998, the County started its Small Contractor and Supplier (SCS) program, a race-neutral initiative focused on small businesses. County agencies have worked to increase outreach to minority- and women-owned business enterprises (MWBEs), but the County has not done a disparity study that could lead to more targeted efforts.

MWBEs and small businesses face several roadblocks to public contracting, such as complicated processes, excessive evaluation criteria, and high insurance costs. County agencies have taken steps to remove these barriers, but actions have been siloed, reducing consistency and impact. There is no clear accountability structure for increasing opportunities for MWBEs and few specific, measurable countywide goals for spending with these firms. This framework does not effectively support the pro-equity contracting goals established in the County’s Equity and Social Justice Strategic Plan.

The SCS program increased county contracting opportunities with small businesses, investing more than $47 million in these businesses annually since 2014. However, without early monitoring and enforcement, prime contractors may have cost small subcontractors up to $1.9 million over three years by not meeting SCS requirements. Moreover, the poor data reliability of the SCS directory may reduce the effectiveness of the small business program.

We recommend that the County put in place steps to conduct a formal study of racial disparities. We also recommend that the County clarify roles and responsibilities for increasing opportunities for MWBEs, create specific, measurable targets for strategic equity goals, reduce barriers to contracting, and increase access to resources that increase staff capacity to implement pro-equity contracting countywide.

Currently, there are no related reports to this project.