Economic Mobility Index and the City of Raleigh’s Disparity Study

By Lekesha R. Shaw

MWBE Program Manager, City of Raleigh

The City of Raleigh’s Disparity Study, completed in 2023 by Miller 3 Consulting, Inc., had an established purpose to determine if there is evidence showing disparities among ready, willing, and able Minority and Women Owned businesses (MWBE) across various areas. These included AES Design Services, Construction Services, Professional Services, Nonprofessional Services and Goods and Supplies. This study used historical City data from FY 2017 through FY 2021.

Several methods were used to study this, including legal and contract review, and analyzing numbers to see how MWBE businesses were treated. The study compared data across the entire state of North Carolina, Raleigh, and the greater Raleigh-Cary NC metro area.

The study found that there was a gap in how often MWBE businesses got to work on City projects. Miller 3 Consulting found big differences in how often businesses owned by women and minorities were chosen for work, compared to others. They suggested that the City make changes, like adjusting rules for choosing businesses and setting fair goals for women- and minority-owned businesses. They also recommended improving the City's MWBE program.

The Raleigh Chamber’s DEI Metro Study for 2024, completed by Economic Leadership LLC, was established to create an economic mobility index. This index compared the Raleigh metro area with other communities nationwide. The intent of the index was to provide policymakers and stakeholders with valuable insights into the distribution of opportunities, access to resources, and representation levels. This study focused on data evaluated from the years 2022 and 2023.

The index metrics focused on identifying people of diverse backgrounds, assessing their ability to acquire quality jobs, obtain skills for higher wages and excel into leadership within the workplace, and their economic and financial concerns. The results showed that the Raleigh metro did well in leadership, job opportunities, and education, ranking in the top 30 out of 155 cities in these areas. The Raleigh metro did not do as well in economic security. Overall, the Raleigh metro earned a score of 65.4, placing 9th out of all metro areas. Seattle earned the highest score with 71.4.

Both studies identified similar groups of people with diverse backgrounds that would be measured including race, gender, education level, household income and home ownership status. The City of Raleigh’s study offered a more extensive analysis into specific areas of work, whereas The Raleigh Chamber’s study focused more on overall economic opportunity, individual wealth, and representation in the workplace.

The results of the DEI Metro study are helpful for the City of Raleigh because they show that the city needs to improve economic security. When people struggle to meet their basic needs, it affects how many MWBE firms are available to work with the city. The economic mobility study also helped by comparing the Raleigh metro to other metros. Both studies showed that the Raleigh metro needs to plan carefully to make sure everyone has better chances to succeed.

Both studies show that the Raleigh metro should focus on attracting more diverse people, building stronger economic security, and fixing the gaps in MWBE business opportunities. Since completion of the disparity study, the city has been working to follow the recommendations and improve equity and inclusion in how they choose businesses for city projects. Various concerted efforts are already underway, both internally and externally, including the MWBE Program partnering, supporting, and participating in Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce events to add input from a business-impact perspective on diversity and inclusion. The City of Raleigh looks forward to a future of working diligently along with Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce to make Raleigh a place where dreams are realized, opportunities are plentiful, and success is achieved.