Study Progress

The City of Greenville 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 City of Greenville and M³ Consulting kicked off the 2025 City of Greenville Disparity Study in March 2025 with a series of virtual and in person meetings with various City of Greenville departments and representatives. M³ Consulting met with the City of Greenville on-site on March 19, 2025 to introduce the study, answer questions, and begin the data collection process starting with assessing and understanding contracting and vendor data that City of Greenville maintains.

Data Collection

M³ Consulting began working with the City of Greenville in March 2025 to collect data on contracts and procurements that the City of Greenville awarded during the study period as well as information about the vendors that participated in that work.

The project team for the 2025 City of Greenville’s Disparity Study includes three firms that possess expertise directly relevant to conducting the study in a manner that meets the highest industry and legal standards. Miller³ Consulting (M³ Consulting) is a prime consultant and minority-owned firm based in Atlanta. TruPoint Solutions is a Durham-based management consulting firm, and Q & A Research is a Hispanic-owned firm based in California that has previously worked with M³ Consulting on disparity study efforts.

Primary Contacts:

Larry Scott

Project Manager, Miller³ Consulting, Inc.

(404) 827-9019

[email protected]

Morin Okediji

Lead Statistician, Miller³ Consulting, Inc.

(404) 827-9019

[email protected]

About the Project Team:

Miller³ Consulting

M³ Consulting, successor firm to D.J. Miller & Associates, Inc., is a 2nd generation, management consulting firm based in Atlanta, Georgia. M³ Consulting specializes in inclusive policy initiatives, disparity study analysis, and Small/Minority/Women-owned business enterprise (S/M/WBE) program design and development. Known as the “creators” of the disparity study industry, M³ Consulting conducted the very first disparity study in the United States for Hillsborough County, Florida in 1988, which correctly anticipated the direction of the U.S. Supreme Court. Since then, M³ Consulting has remained on the cutting edge conducting over 145 disparity studies across the country for government agencies including cities, states, school districts, gas companies, and transportation agencies. The firm has conducted disparity studies in 9 of the 11 judicial circuits and engaged in litigation in 5 of the 11 judicial circuits, including the most conservative circuits: 1st, 2nd, 5th, 6th, and 11^th. The firm is proud of the fact that:

· NO M³ Consulting study has ever been overturned

· NO M³ Consulting study has been challenged since 1997

For more information about M³ Consulting, please visit www.miller3group.com

TruPoint Solutions

TruPoint Solutions is a Durham-based management consulting firm, certified as a Small Professional Services Firm (SPSF) by NCDOT/NCDOA. The firm brings significant expertise in managing small business inclusion programs.

As part of the M³ Consulting team, TruPoint Solutions will conduct the Data Collection, Anecdotal Analysis, and Race-Neutral Analysis.

Q & A Research

Q & A Research, Inc. is a women-owned full-service quantitative and qualitative marketing research provider, but also operates Q & A Focus Suites (a chain of focus group facilities), as well as Hispanic Perspectives (a division of the company dedicated to Hispanic research). Q & A Research opened its doors in 1991 and within a few short years became among the top 100 fastest growing firms in the Bay Area twice, as reported by the San Francisco Business Times. The company now has three locations across the country and employs over 120 employees.

As part of the M³ Consulting team, Q & A Research will provide survey administration support.

For more information about Q & A Research, please visit www.qar.com

The project team engages the community to determine the experiences of vendors attempting to do business with City of Greenville and in the marketplace.  We seek to gain insight and information from various perspectives by conducting one-on-one interviews, focus groups, public hearings and community meetings. The engagement with the community will begin late Fall 2025.

During the public hearing and community meetings, M³ Consulting 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. Please participate and make sure your insights are included as part of the process!

What is a disparity study?

A Disparity Study determines whether a government entity, either in the past or currently, engages in exclusionary practices in the solicitation and award of contracts to minority, and women‐owned, and disadvantaged business enterprises (MWDBEs).

What is the purpose of a disparity study?

The study is necessitated in part by the 1989 U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in the case of City of Richmond v. J.A. Croson. The court decision imposed legal requirements on jurisdictions to establish a “compelling interest” to support the establishment of a minority and women business program. The results of this study will determine if a compelling interest exists for the basis of City of Greenville’s diverse business program.

Why is the City of Greenville conducting a disparity study?

The City of Greenville is conducting a disparity study to aid City of Greenville in evaluating and improving its current programs and to undertake all necessary and affirmative steps to ensure that Diverse Business Enterprises are afforded opportunities to participate in City of Greenville procurements.

When will the disparity study be completed?

April 2026

How can local business owners and community stakeholders get involved and stay informed?

The participation of stakeholders and business owners is crucial to the Disparity Study’s success. The project team will be conducting stakeholder meetings, business owner interviews, sending surveys and holding focus groups throughout the course of the Study to gather information; local business owners and stakeholders are encouraged to attend and participate.

The business owner meetings and focus groups will allow the project team to document anecdotal testimony from firms and/or individuals that have done business or are interested in doing business directly with City of Greenville or indirectly through its prime contractors/lead professional consultants.

You can also share your insights about working in the local marketplace by emailing the project team directly at [email protected].

Data collected throughout the Study will be considered and incorporated into the final report.

What types of contracts are being reviewed?

The study will focus on contracts within numerous procurement categories associated with the City of Greenville.

Will the results of the disparity study be made public?

Yes, the results of the disparity study will be made public at the end of the process.

The City of Greenville will provide access to relevant disparity study notes, presentations, and reports below. Please check back periodically for updated documents throughout the course of the study.

Please submit any comments that you may have about your experiences working in the local marketplace, working with the City of Greenville or about the disparity study. Topic areas could include:

• Conditions in the local marketplace, including any potential barriers that businesses face in being successful or growing;
• Contracting opportunities with City of Greenville or other local government agencies;
• Business assistance programs that City of Greenville or other local agencies currently use;
• Any recommendations for additional business assistance programs that City of Greenville could consider implementing;

Your comments will be treated confidentially. They will be integrated as part of the project team’s analyses of local marketplace conditions without identifying you as the source.

E-mail your comments directly to the project team at [email protected]