Arlington wants to use more diverse businesses for city projects. Here’s how.
Barbara and Leonard Oldums’ distribution company, Industrial Solutions, has not been immune to the pandemic’s financial toll. But when their customers, including Arlington Fire Department and the Chamber of Commerce, started asking for gloves and cleaning supplies, they found a new way to stay afloat.
Barbara Oldums credited her and her husband’s years of networking with the agencies, as well as their flexibility as a smaller company, with their success, even during COVID. The Texas Rangers, one of their customers, honored the company in 2020 as the team’s most valuable diverse business partner.
“We were able to expand into product areas that we really weren’t paying attention to,” Barbara Oldums said.
While the Oldums’ company, a Black-owned business, has found luck receiving work from the city, their fortune has been the exception, not the rule, for business owners of color in Arlington looking to work with the city — an issue that city leaders and staff have committed to addressing this year.
Black-owned businesses received less than 1% of funds spent on contracts in 2020, according to city statistics. Arlington met its goal for the first time last year of awarding at least a quarter of all contract dollars to companies with Minority/Women Business Enterprise classification.
City Council approved a resolution in early March to spend at least 30% of contract dollars on minority firms. City government is also considering creating a department to enforce policies to bridge disparities.
Will Velasco, city purchasing manager, said officials have spent years working toward better policies and practices to connect with the minority groups.
“Everyone’s looking forward to actually having a formal program adopted,” Velasco said. “Having a formal program and having City Council adopt that as part of a policy really shows the MWBE community that we’re taking this seriously.”
The adjustments are two recommendations made in a 192-page disparity study conducted by CH Advisors. The agency found that Black and Native American businesses were the most likely not to be used in city contracts. Other recommendations include communicating more with businesses, offering training and outreach as well as connecting businesses with resources.
Business owners who participated in the study said they must navigate biases, as well as a “good ole boy” culture, in order to receive work.
Oldums said although Industrial Solutions has been successful, her company must contend with larger firms that attempt to block them from contracts, as well as reluctant lenders.
“When our competitors see that a small minority firm can provide and be competitive, they do try to put roadblocks in the way,” she said. “But because of the relationships and the networking that we put as priorities, we have been able to maintain and continue to move forward.”
The city’s Unity Council also issued similar recommendations in its racial equity study.
The studies did not come as a surprise to advocates, including Arlington NAACP President Alisa Simmons. While she cheered the city’s efforts, she noted that groups including hers have informed the city of barriers for decades.
“We think the disparity study was a necessary and and positive step,” Simmons said. “We believe the findings and recommendations are on point.”
Council will consider adopting policy changes later this spring and forming a business diversity office to enforce the provisions.
