Durham County (“the County”) has commissioned Miller³ Consulting, Inc. (M³ Consulting) to conduct a Disparity Study of the County of Durham’s contractual awards in construction, goods, services, and architectural and engineering services for the past five-year period to determine the effectiveness of the current programs and recommend modifications and adjustments, if necessary, that are in compliance with the law. 

Disparity Studies are the primary means by which municipalities determine whether there is legal justification for the establishment, continuation or modification of programs designed to promote the full and fair participation of minority & women business enterprises (MWBE) in government contracting.

The disparity study’s study period is from July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2021. 

Study schedule. M³ Consulting initiated the disparity study in June 2022 and will complete the study by the end of Summer 2023.

Key contacts. If you have any questions or comments regarding the 2022 Durham County Disparity Study, please contact via email at:

durhamcountydisparitystudy@miller3group.com

Alternatively, you can contact the project team directly:

Sherry Williams
Project Manager, Miller3 Consulting, Inc.
(t) 404-827-9019 (e) swilliams@miller3group.com

Larry Scott
Assistant Project Manager, Miller³ Consulting, Inc.
t) 404-827-9019 (e) lscott@miller3group.com

Study progress. Durham County will provide regular updates about M³ Consulting’s progress on the disparity study throughout its course. Please check back periodically for those updates.

Project initiation. The County and M³ Consulting kicked off the 2022 Durham County Disparity Study in June 2022 with a series of virtual meetings with various County departments and representatives. M³ Consulting met with the County to introduce the study, answer questions, and begin the data collection process starting with assessing and understanding contracting and vendor data that the County maintains.

Data collection. M³ Consulting began working with the County in June 2022 to collect data on contracts and procurements that the County awarded during the study period as well as information about the vendors that participated in that work.

Next steps. M³ Consulting will engage in the tasks in the coming months:

• Community engagement. 
  • One on One Interviews- The project team will conduct a series of one-on-one interviews with both non-minority and minority business owners on their experiences doing business or attempting to do business with the County.
  • Focus Groups- The project team will conduct a series of focus groups with both non-minority and minority business owners on specific topics related to their experiences doing business or attempting to do business with the County.
  • Public Hearings-The project team will conduct a series of public hearings in various locations throughout the County. During the public hearings, the project team will present information about the disparity study, answer any questions, and solicit participants for any verbal or written testimony that they would like to share about their experiences working in the marketplace. Further details including specific dates, times, and locations of the meetings will be available soon.

• Data collection. M³ Consulting will continue to work with the County to collect data on contracts that it awarded during the study period and the vendors that participated in those contracts.

• Data analysis. M³ Consulting will begin analyzing data that it collects from the County. M³ Consulting will begin assessing the subindustries that account for the majority of County contracting, the geographical area that is most relevant to the County's contracting, and the percentage of total contract dollars MWBE’s received on County's prime contracts and subcontracts during the study period.

• Capacity surveys. In the Winter of 2022/23, the project team will begin administering the capacity survey via email and telephone with businesses in the relevant geographic market area that perform work that is relevant to County contracting. 

If we contact your business, please participate in the community engagement and survey process to help ensure an accurate and comprehensive survey process!