Structural deficiency in public contracting procurement tends to perpetuate the contracting opportunity disparity among ethnic minorities and women owned businesses.  Delivery of most construction projects to the federal, state, local and municipal government requires prime contracting. The lack of scale of minority and women owned business limits their participation at this level.  Subcontracting becomes the only viable option for participation in public projects.  The public entities are not directly responsible for subcontracting opportunities; the prime contractors have control of this process. This external control creates a dilemma for the public entities. Delivery of public projects through prime contractors lacks the proper transparency that would encourage citizen oversight.

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