Department of Economic Inclusion

The City has established through prior disparity studies that minority- and women-owned businesses within the City's relevant geographic market area of Hamilton County continue to experience contracting disparities that cannot be accounted for by factors unrelated to race or gender, establishing Compelling Governmental Interest in administering the City's current economic inclusion programs. In order to maintain legally defensible race- and gender-conscious economic inclusion programs, the City must undergo periodic disparity studies to assess current marketplace conditions, evaluate program effectiveness, and ensure the program continues to meet narrow tailoring and strict scrutiny requirements. 

Key Terms:

• Compelling Governmental Interest: The initial burden government organizations must establish by showing evidence of contracting discrimination that supports the use of race- and gender conscious measures.
• Narrow Tailoring: In addition to demonstrating a compelling governmental interest, government organizations must also demonstrate their use of race- and gender-conscious measures is narrowly tailored to address specific barriers impacting their contracting and procurement.
• Relevant Geographic Market Area (RGMA): The area where the majority of a government's dollars are spent. The City spends a majority (75% or more) of its dollars within Hamilton County, making Hamilton County the City's RGMA.
• Strict Scrutiny: Under strict scrutiny, government organizations must show a compelling governmental interest in using race- and gender-conscious measures and ensure the use of such measures is narrowly tailored.