A consulting firm working with the City of Waco on inclusivity, diversity hosting virtual meeting

WACO, Texas — A consulting firm that is working with the City of Waco on inclusivity andui diversity is hosting a virtual community engagement meeting on June 7th at 10 a.m., according to a news release.

MGT Consulting Group will present the City of Waco’s Disparity Study project overview, gather comments from business owners on their experiences doing business, or attempting to do business, with the City or their prime vendors, according to the news release. 

This meeting is open to the public and all are invited.  

According to the city, the study will be used to determine if there are equal opportunities in business for all walks of life. As well as recommendations to better the city's access opportunities for people of color. 

"One of the strategic goals right now of our city council is equity inclusion and so this is one of the initiatives that we're looking into is to ensure that our contracting processes provide equity throughout throughout the whole process," said Monica Sedelmeier, Waco's director of communications and marketing.

The study will also analyze if Minority/Women Business Enterprises (MWBE) experience disparities in the local economy, according to the city. 

"The reason we look at those is because traditionally, those have been the ones that have been scrutinized the most," said Andres Bernal with the MGT Consulting.

He says they collect qualitative data to complete their study. The firm will review policies and procedures, the city's communication with contractors and payments to different businesses, amongst other things.

"We look at all of those aspects to see what has really become barriers to doing business with the city, especially for small businesses and minority owned businesses," he explained.

Most importantly they want to work alongside former contractors to find out their experiences with the city through town hall meetings, surveys and interviews. The first town hall meeting for this study will be done in the next month or two.

The study is expected to be complete by early 2023.

Sedelmeier says the the contract amount is not to exceed $360,904.

For more information, please contact cityofwacodisparitystudy@mgtconsulting.com or visit cityofwaco-txdisparitystudy.com to sign up for the meeting.