In order to raise the bar, we are really holding our contractors’ feet to the fire. They need to do their due diligence, and our next step is to require them to do this.”
Attracting more minority- and women-owned businesses to bid on Bridgewater State University construction projects has been an institutional goal for two decades. The practice is not only in keeping with the university’s equity and racial justice mission but also serves another important role, according to Karen Jason, vice president of operations.
“When you consider that 28 percent of our population is comprised of students of color, it’s important for these young people to see themselves reflected in the workforce around campus,” she said. “If they see men and women construction workers who look like them, they feel they have some ownership of it.”
Procurement Services, part of BSU’s Finance Office, has also played a role in diversifying the campus’ construction workforce, thanks to the efforts of Doug Shropshire, vice president and chief financial officer; Dr. Jennifer Pacheco, assistant vice president; and their staff.
Historically, Ms. Jason added, construction on campuses in the United States has been designed and executed by white men. Over her past quarter century in the field, she and her colleagues have been working to broaden the workforce based on gender and ethnicity.
Operations has also been working closely with the Massachusetts Supplier Diversity Office and using its database, which documents those contractors certified as Massachusetts Minority Business Enterprises and Women Business Enterprises.
The university is also a member of The Greater New England Minority Supplier Development Council, which advances business opportunities for certified Asian, Black, Hispanic and Native American business enterprises and connects them to corporate members. Meanwhile, BSU has also joined the National Association of Minority Contractors, the oldest minority construction trade association in the United States.
The association estimates that nearly a third of American workers--50 million people--earn a living in the construction industry. Hispanics and Latinos make up 30 percent, or 15 million, of these workers, and African Americans represent 17 percent, or 8.5 million.
While the university is doing its part, the hope is its current vendors will do likewise.
“In order to raise the bar, we are really holding our contractors’ feet to the fire,” Ms. Jason said. “They need to do their due diligence, and our next step is to require them to do this.”
She added that BSU projects have historically done relatively well on the diversity front. However, she said more can always be done. For instance, the architect for the Burnell Hall renovation project, which will soon be underway, is a Latine woman. Work to open the bid process to more women-owned businesses has been moving in lockstep with other diversity efforts in operations.
As previously stated, diversity on construction job sites is not a new concept at BSU. Ditto the commonwealth. The state in 1972 established the Office of Minority Business Enterprise Assistance. It recognized that “minority business enterprises frequently face special handicaps and problems achieving viable economic status…” Over the years, the agency’s name has changed (today it is Supplier Diversity Office), and as recently as two years ago, then-Governor Charlie Baker reaffirmed “programs to ensure diversity, equity and inclusion for diverse and small businesses in state procurement and contracting.” This time, a qualifying statement was added to the executive order: “The commonwealth remains committed to leading the nation in diversity, equity and inclusion for all…”
BSU’s Board of Trustees has also taken an active role in tracking the hiring of minority- and women-owned businesses working on campus. That’s a big help, Ms. Jason said.
“The numbers are only going to grow, and they need to if we want to continue being a great place to work,” she said. “It’s just the right thing to do. And these businesses, when given the opportunity to perform here, in my experience they want the work, so they go above and beyond.”
Statewide efforts are paying off. GBH reported in May 2023 that “minority-owned businesses won contracts worth $217 million from Massachusetts state agencies last year, a jump of more than $50 million from the year before, according to new data from the state’s Supplier Diversity Office.”
The story went on to say the Mass.gov data in a new annual report covering fiscal year 2022 also shows that minority-owned firms received another $133 million in subcontracting and other ancillary work from white contractors working on state projects.
That brings the minority business total to $350 million for the year, or about 5.4 percent of state contracts. As GBH’s Paul Singer wrote: “The increase comes as the state made a number of changes to the agency tasked with supplier diversity, giving it more teeth to enforce the commonwealth’s goals and creating more tools for agencies to see their own progress.”
Governor Maura Healey at the time welcomed the jump in the numbers, and told GBH News that her administration is “committed” to doing more.