Shelby County (TN) Study Supports Race-, Gender-Based Business Program

A Griffin & Strong, P.C. disparity study in Shelby County has found legal evidence to support a race-based and gender-based contracting program.

The Memphis Commercial Appeal reported that County Commissioners accepted GSPC CEO Rodney Strong’s presentation last week outlining the results of the study and the data undergirding those results.

“The reason we need a disparity study is that for every $100 spent in this county … only 83 cents goes to a minority- or woman-owned business. … yet the county is majority minority,” Shelby County Commissioner Van Turner said Monday, according to the Commercial Appeal. "What we’re trying to do is correct something in this county.”

The study, which reviewed contracting practices with the county from 2016 to 2020, found that Black American-owned businesses, Asian American-owned businesses, Native American-owned firms, and non-minority women-owned firms were underutilized in prime contracts.

Read the full story from the Memphis Commercial Appeal.