A preliminary evaluation of the Maryland disparity-study landscape

The City's 2021 study found statistically significant MWBE underutilization in all five procurement categories, with MWBE firms at 25.09 percent of prime dollars overall but 96.58 percent of those dollars concentrated in a single firm.

Commissioned in February 2020 at a not-to-exceed price of $238,000, the study analyzed $91.2 million in prime spending across construction, architecture and engineering, professional services, other services, and goods, in a market area drawn to capture at least 75 percent of prime award dollars. Every category showed significant underutilization that survived regression controls; Professional Services and Goods recorded zero prime MWBE dollars across all five years. The anecdotal record described an entrenched informal network and repeat use of the same firms, and the data chapter found FY2018 had no tracked subcontractors at all. The City responded in late 2021 by creating its Small Business Reserve and MWBE programs and setting annual aspirational goals at the study's measured availability levels.

The County's first-ever disparity study found MWBEs at 17.47 percent of available firms but 4.23 percent of competitive spend, a combined index of 24.22, yet the legal threshold for race- or gender-conscious programs was not met because the subcontractor record could not be built.

MGT's $290,626 study, the County's first, found substantial disparity on the conventional index but reported that only 27 percent of prime contractors kept records of their subcontractor dealings, so the evidence a race- or gender-conscious program requires under Croson could not be assembled. The recommendations are race-neutral: a Small Business Enterprise program, improved data collection, simplified processes, and expanded outreach, with the consultant retained for roughly another year on an implementation framework and a task force forming.

Baltimore City's study examined minority-, women-, veteran-, disability-, and LGBTQ-owned business categories together and found significant underutilization supporting the City's MWBOO program.

An availability and disparity study across one of the region's largest municipal procurement portfolios, notable for its scope decision: it measured five ownership categories in a single instrument and underpins the Minority and Women's Business Opportunity Office program.

MWBEs won roughly 9 percent of Baltimore County awards against roughly 38 percent measured availability across the four industries studied.

Mason Tillman's study for Baltimore County measured availability and utilization across four industry groups and reported minority- and women-owned firms winning about 9 percent of awards against about 38 percent availability, one of the widest gaps reported in the Maryland set.

Montgomery County's 2024 study examined both public procurement and private-sector markets and supports the County's Minority, Female, and Disabled-owned business program.

The final report, dated September 23, 2024, pairs procurement analysis with private-sector marketplace evidence for one of the region's largest county buyers, and it sustains the reauthorization of the County's MFD program.

Howard County's first-ever study, an investment of more than $400,000, found MWBEs receiving 9.19 percent of contract dollars across five procurement categories.

Structurally the closest recent comparable to a first-cycle Maryland county study: five procurement categories, a five-year window, and a reported investment above $400,000. Released in June 2026, it lands in the same post-SFFA legal environment the City's update will.

Harford County's study led to concrete operational follow-through: eMMA registration pushes, contract unbundling, vendor events, and enhanced outreach.

Conducted by the same firm that produced the City's 2021 baseline, Harford's study is most instructive for what happened after it: the County moved on registration, unbundling, and outreach, the race-neutral operational levers that require no constitutional showing.

The statewide study found minority firms at 26.1 percent availability against 15.2 percent of award value, a gap it called large and statistically significant, and it carried HB 1578's reauthorization of the MBE program through July 1, 2031.

The General Assembly rested the 2026 reauthorization on this study, and the statute codifies race-neutral-first: race-neutral efforts are to be used to the maximum extent feasible. Statewide MBE participation ran 22.0 percent in FY2024 against the 29 percent goal, and the next statutory analysis is due September 30, 2030.

MDOT's 2018 DBE disparity study, the most recent completed federal-side study found, belongs to a regime that changed fundamentally in October 2025, when USDOT removed race- and gender-based presumptions.

The 2018 study (volumes 1 through 3, following a 2013 predecessor) supported MDOT's federal DBE goal-setting. In October 2025 a federal interim final rule removed the DBE program's race- and sex-based presumptions, and certifying agencies are re-evaluating certified firms. Litigation challenging the prior regime was dismissed as moot in March 2026 after the rule change.

WSSC Water's study covered FY2015 through FY2019, and the utility has since reported FY2024 MBE spend above $173 million, about 34 percent.

The bi-county water utility's study was presented in January 2023 and approved by its commissioners. WSSC's reported FY2024 MBE utilization of roughly 34 percent is among the strongest reported figures in the region.

Asheville, a city of about 94,000, paid $321,748 for its most recent disparity study.

One of the two closest small-city price comparables in the recent record: a population similar to Frederick's, a national consultant, and a contract price about a third above the City's 2020 anchor of $238,000.

Greenville and its utilities commission jointly approved $460,098 for a disparity study, with the utility contributing $100,000.

The most recent small-city price point in the record: a joint city and utility engagement at $460,098, of which the Greenville Utilities Commission contributed $100,000, putting the city's own share near $360,000.