In general, disadvantaged businesses are defined as businesses formed for making a profit in which at least 51 percent of the business is owned by a person or persons who are socially disadvantaged because of their identification as members of certain groups, including Black Americans, Hispanic Americans, women, Asian Pacific Americans and American Indians who have suffered the effects of discriminatory practices. The intent of the program is that certified disadvantaged vendors will be listed in the directory, and the directory will be used by state purchasers to identify businesses and include them in the bid process. About 2,000 vendors are currently listed in the TDOC directory. Several problems which interfere with the intent of the program to help disadvantaged businesses obtain state business are listed.
Information is coded by city and by commodity.
State agencies are directed by the General Appropriations Act to improve their minority hiring and contracting practices. They therefore have an incentive to identify disadvantaged businesses that can meet their contracting needs. A second problem relates to shortcomings with the current TDOC directory. The directory also does not list vendors by specific commodity produced, or by the areas which the business is willing to serve, so the ability of a state agency to readily use the manual is questionable. The business can specify which districts or zip codes the vendor would be willing to supply.