in our Spotlight on Business Report tonight lawmakers are overhauling State Contracting rules after a report pointed out major disparities legislators on Monday heard from business owners who say they've been left out of contracts and state money awarded for big projects largely they allege because of being minority or female-owned data released in January found most State contracts are given to businesses owned by white men as Raven Santana reports Monday's hearing offered ideas so the legislature can now take action at the end of the day this is a defining moment this is a Day of Reconciliation for New Jersey because black people are tired of being at the bottom president and CEO of the African-American Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey John Harmon didn't hold back when discussing the results of the New Jersey dispari study released in January that found disparities in the state's Contracting procedures the study which was conducted by Mason Tillman associ iates reviewed Statewide data relating to goods and services Professional Services and construction over a 5-year period they reviewed more than 1.2 million records including 240,000 contracts from over 60 Contracting agencies authorities commissions state colleges and universities the report found significant gaps between the number of contracts awarded to white men compared to minority and women-owned businesses it's an old boys club all the engineering firms they golf with each other and it's generations of this closed door policy Carlos Medina president and CEO of the Statewide Hispanic chamber of commerce of New Jersey joined Harmon and more than 10 other people who testified and shared their own experiences I mean Hispanics and African-American and Asian and women are getting contracts so much lower than their population like we're 22% Hispanic I expect 22% of contracts I expect 22% of boards of directors the cont contracts reviewed were awarded between July 1st 2015 and June 30th 2020 the study also found that women-owned businesses got less than 10% of the Prime contracts for Professional Services but represented about 40% of the businesses available for the work we want to be able to have the opportunity to have work just like everyone else um there's enough pie for everybody and we shouldn't have to fight among ourselves as women and minority firms it's a bigger pie that we should get bigger pieces of AI now is starting to kick in on what's Happening so we've got to get our smaller and minority businesses up on AI because AI will do the algorithm to push you out Newark mayor RZ baraca shared ways to help minority and women-owned businesses improve on receiving Prime and subprime Contracting opportunities we must Implement set aside procurements and price preference programs that prioritize mwbe participation unlocking the unta potential of diverse businesses and driving economic growth and social Equity some other important actions that can be taken include create and maintain a comprehensive database of certified small and diverse businesses in New Jersey this database would serve as a resource for government agencies and contractors seeking diverse suppliers the current state database NJ Savvy is Antiquated and not userfriendly in addition to creating these databases John Haron stressed that legislation will be key when it comes to equity and says more skills need to be put forward to improve participation rate on public contracts for minorities for NJ Spotlight news I'm Raven Santana support for the business report is provided by Riverview Jazz presenting the 11th annual Jersey City Jazz Festival May 29th to June 2nd event details including performance schedules and location are online at jerseys City jazz festival.com