Kansas City, MO invites local businesses to share their insights at one of the four community engagement sessions to be held in July for the 2026 Disparity Study.
KANSAS CITY, Miss., June 25, 2025 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Kansas City, MO, and Griffin & Strong (G&S), a nationally recognized procurement efficiency firm, are conducting a 2026 Disparity Study. As part of ongoing efforts to ensure equity and access, the Kansas City (hereinafter the "City") engaged G&S to perform a comprehensive and legally supportable disparity study that meets the judicial test for constitutional "strict scrutiny" and by other criteria required by applicable law. The courts stated that strict scrutiny was the standard of judicial review for race-conscious programs.
The Disparity Study will collect essential data to assess whether all qualified firms in the market area have equal opportunities to compete for and participate in Kansas City's procurement of prime contracts and subcontracts. If the findings indicate disparities, the study will support the implementation of strategies to promote equitable access.
Over the course of the Study, there will be several ways that the local business community, business support organizations, and civic and trade associations can be involved. These include participating in the Survey of Business Owners, anecdotal interviews, community engagement sessions, and focus groups.
An important component of the study is to solicit comments from local businesses and from business support organizations about their experiences of doing business with Kansas City, MO, or attempting to do business with the City, but have not been able to do so.
In July, G&S and the City will be inviting businesses and organizations to participate in four Community Engagement Sessions to receive comments. Again, these comments are vital in helping to make a determination about business owners ' experiences with Kansas City.
The four sessions are scheduled for Tuesday, July 15@ 6 pm - 7 pm at Robert J. Mohart Multi-Purpose Center and virtually on Thursday, July 17@ 10 am – 11 am; Tuesday, July 22@ 6 pm – 7 pm; and Thursday, July 24@ 10 am – 11am.
The City's Department of Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity (CREO) is the sponsoring department.
About Griffin & Strong
Griffin & Strong is a law and public policy consulting firm based in Atlanta, Georgia. Since 1992, the firm has represented individual clients, small businesses, corporations, and government entities in public policy consulting, legislation, contract compliance, supplier diversity consulting, and disparity studies.
About Kansas City's Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity Department (CREO)
CREO protects residents against discrimination in employment and public accommodations by investigating discrimination claims and enforcing civil rights laws. CREO also works to increase inclusion and economic equity for our residents and businesses through the City's diversity supplier program and construction workforce compliance and enforcement.
Media Contact
Courtney Clark, Griffin & Strong, 1 404-348-0690 113, [email protected], https://www.gspclaw.com/
SOURCE Griffin & Strong
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