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Hispanic and black businesses are receiving a
disproportionately small number of federal stimulus contracts,
creating a rising chorus of demands for the Obama administration to
be more inclusive and more closely track who receives
government-financed work.


      Latinos and blacks have faced obstacles to winning government
contracts long before the stimulus. They own 6.8 and 5.2 percent of
all businesses, respectively, according to census figures. Yet
Latino-owned business have received only 1.7 percent of $46 billion
in federal stimulus contracts recorded in U.S. government data, and
black-owned businesses have received just 1.1 percent.


      That pot of money is just a small fraction of the $862 billion
economic stimulus law. Billions more have been given to states,
which have used the money to award contracts of their own.


      Although states record minority status when they award contracts
to businesses, there is no central, consistent or public
compilation of that data, according to Laura Barrett, director of
the Transportation Equity Network.


      Minority businesses are often too small to compete for projects;
do not have access to the necessary capital, equipment or bonding
requirements; or lose bids to companies with well-established
relationships. There also has been an emphasis on spending stimulus
money quickly, which favors businesses that have won past
contracts.


      But minority advocates say that blacks and Latinos have been
harder hit by the recession, and getting a fair share of stimulus
contracts is key to the recovery of these communities.


      The Obama administration has taken steps to address minority
concerns. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood wrote governors in
December urging them to work with disadvantaged businesses. LaHood
suggested unbundling large contracts to make them more accessible
to small businesses, and emulating a Missouri contracting project
that made community groups and openness part of the process.

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Hispanic and black businesses are receiving a
disproportionately small number of federal stimulus contracts,
creating a rising chorus of demands for the Obama administration to
be more inclusive and more closely track who receives
government-financed work.


Minority-owned firms receiving fewer stimulus contracts

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