Before leaving office, former mayor Mayor Martin J. Walsh announced the completion of a M/WBE disparity study as well as an Executive Order designed to support impartial procurement policies. As a result of the disparity study the Supplier Diversity Program will be implemented with a $2 Million investment in order to fully integrate the new initiatives providing opportunities for minority- and women-owned businesses. 

We previously reported on how Walsh has come under criticism, as during his terms in office “black-owned businesses were shut out of city contracts according to a study commissioned by the city and partially obtained by local media outlet GBH News”. To be fair to the former mayor this has been a long standing problem.

So the changes enacted at the end of his time in office appear to show he had begun to understand the necessity to make changes or at the very least to clean up his reputation. Prior to the new Supplier Diversity Program, the city depended on gender- and race-neutral measures in order for small businesses to participate in municipal contracting. 

Before leaving office the City government website explained it was the Mayor's priority to focus on impartiality in launching a disparity study to help analyze how to integrate and level the playing field for minority- and women-owned businesses. 

The disparity study displayed underutilization of minority- and women-owned businesses in City contracts in all trades. Although there are already programs in place to help small businesses grow and access contracts, there are still many barriers they are facing when competing for City contracting opportunities. 

The executive order established City goals for contracting minority- and women-owned businesses, requiring goal tracking and reporting as part of the annual budget process, and integration with a Supplier Diversity Program.