JEFFERSON CITY — Gov. Parson rescinded an executive order that set goals for state agencies, requiring them to make purchases from businesses owned by women and minorities. Businesses in the area are realizing the impact this could have on them in the future.
Kyle Te, the owner of Arete Contracting based in Jefferson City, Missouri said, “As a subcontractor it would definitely take away some edge, like a little bit of an advantage.”
Arete Contracting serves as both a general contractor and subcontractor. While it might not have as much impact in the general contracting realm, in the subcontracting space this does have a great effect on their chances on doing business with the state.
“If another general contractor is considering two different subcontractors and one of them meets one of the minority goals, then that general contractor is more likely to choose that subcontractor with the diversity goals,” Te said.
Dating back to 2015, Democratic Governor Jay Nixon set goals for state agencies to purchase 10% of goods and services from companies owned by minorities and 10% from businesses owned by women.
In addition to the impact on minority business owners, leaders of organizations are also worried about the impact this might have on the state of Missouri moving forward.
Nimrod Chapel Jr., president of the Missouri NAACP, said that in previous years, the State came up with a plan to ensure there were some objectives to ensuring roads to inclusion which are now going away.
“These two are a bridge to prosperity that allow Missourians to participate in state government contracts for products and services that are very valuable to Missourians and to the community that they live in,” Chapel Jr. said.
Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court eliminated affirmative action in college admissions, resulting in colleges and universities considering other ways to achieve diverse student bodies. Now, the governor has rescinded these orders citing “legal concerns” according to his office.
“These are the executive orders that had the effect of putting tens of millions of dollars approaching a billion dollars into the communities right here in Missouri,” Chapel said.
Te also mentioned how the rescinding of these orders could impact the percentage of contracts that are in collaboration with veterans.
Currently the state goal is to award 3% of all state contracts to service-disabled veteran-owned businesses. This in return provides a three-point bonus preference on bids and proposals for those businesses, according to the Office of Equal Opportunity.
“That will probably have the biggest impact on me because that gives me a three-point advantage of my other competitors as a general contractor, Te said.”
Chapel said that no matter the service, people in the community should have the opportunity to participate in state government contracting.
The Missouri Office of Equal Opportunity provided a statement after the governor’s order saying, “The rescission of these executive orders provides necessary flexibility for OEO to assess how we provide these services to the executive branch and the customers we serve.”
KOMU 8 reached out to the governor’s office for further explanation on the rescinding of orders due to “legal concerns” and was told they have no further comment at the moment outside of what has already been released.
