While Minneapolis has made strides in diversifying its outside contractors, white men continue to benefit disproportionately from public contracts with the city.
In 2017, the city fell short of its diversity goals for workers on public construction projects and for its use of women- and minority-owned businesses, according to data presented to a City Council committee this week.
Over the past four years, minorities accounted for about 21 percent of work hours on public construction projects, missing the goal of 32 percent. Women worked 5 percent of those hours, below the 6 percent goal, according to data collected by the Minneapolis Department of Civil Rights.
However, minority participation hit a four-year high last year of 24 percent, according to the data.
"I think that does show that we're trending in the right direction," said Sean Skibbie, director of contract compliance for Minneapolis.
The share of women in the labor force has been relatively stagnant over that time and dropped slightly to 4 percent last year.
The targets are getting more ambitious. In October, the city adopted a 20 percent goal for women, meaning Minneapolis now aims for female and minority workers to collectively work 52 percent total hours of city construction projects annually.
To enforce these goals, the civil rights department requires potential contractors to submit diversity plans before the contract is awarded, and then checks in monthly to make sure the goals are met, Skibbie said. If the contracted company is not following through, the city works with them to figure out why, and if the problem persists, it can impose a monetary penalty, though Skibbie said that has been rare in his time.