Module · Disparity index
Utilization measured against availability
The disparity index divides a group's share of spending by its share of the available firm base. A value of 1.0 is parity. Below 0.80, the convention used across disparity studies, flags substantial underutilization. For Frederick the official numbers are the City's 2021 study's, shown here in full. What a current index would look like is a set of bounded questions, not a number, and this page keeps that distinction explicit.
The 2021 study's index by category (prime dollars, MWBE combined)
FY2014-FY2018 prime utilization ÷ dollar-weighted availability, with the 0.80 threshold and parity marked. All five categories statistically significant.
Source: The City's 2021 disparity study (Griffin & Strong, P.C.). Prime MWBE utilization divided by the study's dollar-weighted custom-census availability, per category, FY2014-FY2018. All five categories were statistically significant at 95 percent confidence and survived the study's regression controls for capacity and other race- and gender-neutral factors.
The official matrix: index by group and category, prime dollars
Each cell is the 2021 study's utilization divided by its availability for one group in one category. Color runs from deep red (severe underutilization) to green (parity or above). The two green cells are the study's two overutilization findings: the single dominant construction firm behind the Asian American cell, and women-owned firms in A&E. Every other measurable cell sits at or near zero.
| Group \ Industry cluster | Construction | A&E | Professional Services | Other Services | Goods & Supplies |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total MWBE | 0.70 | 0.39 | 0.00 | 0.24 | 0.00 |
| Total MBE | 0.86 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.31 | 0.00 |
| African American | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.31 | 0.00 |
| Asian American | 8.31 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Hispanic American | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.78 | 0.00 |
| Native American | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Women | 0.00 | 1.76 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
Source: The City's 2021 disparity study, Appendix F Tables F-1 to F-5, Study Period rows. Appendix F Study Period rows, prime lens. Total MWBE availability shown at the chapter values (41.37, 39.89, 31.59, 29.13, 15.93); Appendix F prints 41.48, 40.00, and 29.14 for three of them; the published indices are unchanged either way. Bolded significance in the report (p < .05) applies to every cell except Asian American Construction and Women A&E (overutilized) and Hispanic American Other Services (occurrences too small to test).
The same matrix with subcontracts included
Prime plus tracked subcontractor dollars. Goods & Supplies has no column here: FY18 had zero tracked subcontractors, so the study could not build a total-utilization analysis for that category. That absence is a finding in its own right, and it is the same record gap that stopped Frederick County's 2026 study from meeting its legal threshold.
| Group \ Industry cluster | Construction | A&E | Professional Services | Other Services |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total MWBE | 0.74 | 0.70 | 0.09 | 0.24 |
| Total MBE | 0.88 | 0.19 | 0.12 | 0.31 |
| African American | 0.02 | 0.00 | 0.01 | 0.31 |
| Asian American | 8.23 | 0.49 | 0.84 | 0.00 |
| Hispanic American | 0.01 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.78 |
| Native American | 0.18 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Women | 0.14 | 2.48 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
Source: The City's 2021 disparity study, Appendix F Tables F-6 to F-9, Study Period rows. Prime plus subcontractor dollars, Appendix F Tables F-6 to F-9. No Goods & Supplies column exists because FY18 had no tracked subcontractors, so the study could not build a total-utilization analysis for that category.
What would it look like now?
No current disparity index can be computed from public data alone
An index needs a numerator and a denominator measured on the same basis. The denominator has moved: minority-owned employer firms in Frederick County grew from 10.67 percent of all firms in 2017 to 15.35 percent in 2022, and the 2021 study's dollar-weighted availability ran 15.93 to 41.37 percent by category. The numerator does not exist in public form: the City publishes no line-level payment or award data, and the only public program figure since the study, roughly 20 percent of $44M in 2022, combines small-, women-, and minority-owned firms and so cannot serve as an MWBE utilization rate. That absence is itself a finding about reporting, and closing it is a deliverable of the update.
The questions a current index turns on
- Did the zero rows move? Professional Services and Goods had zero prime MWBE dollars across all five study years. A single award in either category since 2021 changes the story; the public record cannot say whether one happened.
- Is prime concentration still the pattern? One firm carried 96.58 percent of MWBE prime dollars in the study period. The update tests whether the SBR and goal-setting programs broadened the base or the concentration simply moved.
- Does utilization track the goals? The City set category goals at the study's measured availability (41, 40, 32, 29, 16). No public report states performance against any of them.
- Can a subcontractor record be built? FY18 had zero tracked subcontractors, and Frederick County's March 2026 study failed its legal threshold on exactly that gap. Whether the City's post-2021 records can support sub-tier analysis determines what any new index can defend.
Frederick in context: City, County, and State indices
Disparity index (utilization ÷ availability) across the region's official studies. Every measured value sits below the 0.80 threshold.
Source: The City's 2021 disparity study (Griffin & Strong, P.C.), chapter tables and Appendix F; U.S. Census ABS Company Summary 2022 and 2017 and NES-D 2022, Frederick County MD, two-county metro proxy, CBSA 47900, and Maryland; City of Frederick 2022 program review; Frederick County disparity study (MGT Impact Solutions, 2026); Maryland statewide disparity study (MGT, 2025).