More capable company doesn't get contract for nondiversity, despite having female CEO
The Massachusetts Lottery's lucrative advertising contract, the source of the political downfall of former state Treasurer Tim Cahill, is again under fire after a marketing firm led by a prominent Boston businesswoman lost the bid under the state's diversity program.
The Patrick administration is defending the award of the $5 million Lottery contract to Connelly Partners, which is not owned by a woman or a minority but got credit for doling out a paltry $12,000 subcontract to a woman-owned vendor.
The losing bidder, Judy Habib, CEO of KHB Brand Activation, got the highest points for cost and presentation but scored lower because her firm didn't promise to partner with a minority or woman-owned firm for subcontract work.
Habib is challenging the contract award because she says the state's diversity plan and the Lottery, under ?Treasurer Steven Grossman, failed to give her credit for running a woman-owned business.
"The Lottery's award of this very important and highly visible contract ... on the sole basis of diversity scoring completely contradicts your department's and this administration's commitment to ... supporting small and women/minority owned businesses in Massachusetts," Habib wrote in a letter to Grossman.
Lottery and Patrick administration officials say Habib's firm lost because it failed to fill out a form promising to give a small piece of the contract to a woman- or minority-owned firm. Habib says she didn't fill it out because her firm is already certified as a woman-owned business and believed she would get credit for that under the state's diversity plan.
"There was no mistake here," said Beth Bresnahan, the Lottery's director of marketing and communications. "We scored it and awarded it accordingly. They (KHB) made the assumption they were getting points for being a woman-owned business."
A spokeswoman for the Patrick administration said the agency is standing by the Lottery's contract decision even though Gov. Deval Patrick has championed diversity and signed an executive order in 2005 reinforcing that the state agencies give preference to minority- and women-owned businesses when awarding large contracts.
"All businesses seeking to be a vendor to the commonwealth must complete a Supplier Diversity Plan," said Alex Zaroulis, spokeswoman for the Department of Administration and Finance. "KHB did not submit a supplier diversity plan and therefore scored lower than the firm that was selected by the Lottery which did fulfill all the bidding requirements for the Lottery contract."
I think the Question is that of a double edged sword. To begin with She was already a minority owned business and that so called form shouldn't have applied. I would think her intensions/assumptions were correct.
Governments and thier affiliates are becoming to big for what is right/wrong. A simple E-mail explaining thier conditions would have been suffice. Not take a stand and say it's either my way or the highway.
her firm didn't promise to partner with a minority or woman-owned firm for subcontract work.
Give some of my business to a Patel, Hell No. Way too many getting busted. Maybe shes better off not getting it.
Diversity is Liberal Speak for Discrimination
I agree!
All contracts should go to the lowest bidder,period1
Pure ignorance. Maybe in your day when sexism and racism was the norm in society, that was acceptable. A few years ago, I heard an executive say that women weren't good for leadership positions because they aren't focused and make decisions based on emotions instead of facts. He shared his ignorant broad generalization like he was giving us some unrefutable knowledge. That's how a bigoted mind works and they are more than a few people like that out there. That's why diveristy rules are still needed unfortunately. I have a daughter and I'm glad dinosaurs like that will be dead when she enters the workforce.
When it comes to this story, it was just the good ole' boy network in effect. The winning contractot put on a dog and pony show by having a token woman to win the contract. The whole Liberal Vs. Conservative thing is stupid. It's primitive tribalism. People are care about these things when the "other guys" are doing it when it goes on all the time. It becomes about spiting people you hate. None of this is hidden, it happens out in the open by the public as a whole is too ignorant to sort out the details. People are far too eager to fight among themselves instead of the people pulling the strings. Dance puppets, dance.
Here's a crazy, far out, insane concept. How about hiring the best qualifed to do the job?
Well of course that's how it should be done but unfortunately it's not politically correct or touchy-feely enough for the fruit loops of society.
It's not what would work the best to these people, it's what would sound the best to their oh-so-delicate sensibilities.
The fact that it puts completely incompetent people in positions they can't handle doesn't matter to them.
To them, it's the thought that counts.
It's unfortunate when you have the capability and the capacity to do it however you are not chosen to do so because of some issues. I hope the contractor that they have chosen will be able to do the job well or else they will regret. Sometimes it's not what we know but who we know.