Convention inclusion had limits
Minority, female contracts were few
The Democratic National Convention host committee spent only $1.6 million with minority- and women-owned companies out of the $49.6 million it cost to organize the event, according to a Globe analysis of convention records.
Forty-five, or about 12 percent, of the 368 companies that won business directly from the Boston 2004 host committee are minority or women-owned, a Globe analysis of Federal Election Commission data found. About half of those companies got small jobs valued at $10,000 or less, according to the data. California companies netted $8.9 million, nearly six times more than what went to local minority or women-owned firms, the Globe analysis found.
The analysis gives the first glimpse into how convention officials fared in helping minority and women entrepreneurs share in convention business. Mayor Thomas M. Menino and other convention boosters made minority inclusion a key commitment in their pitch to both the Democrats and the local business community as they sought to win a convention for Boston.
To help steer contracts to these firms, Boston 2004, the host committee, compiled a directory of hundreds of small, women- and minority-owned businesses that wanted convention-related work. The vendor directory, which Menino said would be critical in helping companies benefit long after the July convention, has disappeared.
To determine how much business went to minority- and women-owned firms, the Globe examined election commission data, which lists the names of companies Boston 2004 did business with directly. The list did not identify which firms were minority- or women-owned businesses, so the Globe compared the list of contractors that were paid with the list of companies certified as minority- or women-owned by various state and federal agencies. The vendors on Boston 2004's directory had to be certified by one of those agencies.
Boston 2004 chairman David A. Passafaro disputed the Globe's findings because they did not include minority or women-owned businesses the committee used as subcontractors. The election commission data does not require subcontractor disclosure, and Boston 2004 would not release subcontractor data, , saying it had not completed its own analysis.
"It won't give you an accurate picture. It won't give you any picture at all," said Passafaro of the Globe's analysis. "A lot of the minority- and women-owned companies were subcontractors."
Boston 2004 said 79 minority and women-owned firms got business either as primary contractors or as subcontractors. Nineteen worked on construction at the FleetCenter, with minority- or women-owned businesses earning more than $7 million in contracts or subcontracts.
The other 60 companies, including both primary contractors and subcontractors, got work related to the convention's delegate parties, but Boston 2004 would not detail how much money those companies made.
The convention "gave nothing to the little people," said Jane Adams, president of Ambiance Limousines in Holliston, who had hopes of winning a contract to chauffeur Democratic bigwigs. Her clients have included the wife of Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling and rapper 50 Cent, "but I couldn't get a single Democrat," she said. "I thought it was supposed to be democratic, but it didn't work that way."
Boston 2004 had $49.6 million in total expenditures between July 1, 2002 and Sept. 12, 2004, according to its filing with the Federal Election Commission on Sept. 27. Of the total, $8.6 million represented in-kind contributions, goods, or services donated to the convention for which the provider was not paid. Boston 2004 said its total cash spending was $40.8 million.
The Globe analysis found that of the $1.6 million spent with companies that were certified as minority- or women-owned, $694,336 went to one firm, Thomas Construction of Dorchester. The second-highest amount went to Meet With Success, an Ipswich company that made $138,000 for "hospitality services." Two companies, Jules Catering of Somerville and Different Tastes of Boston, were paid $230 each, the smallest amount of any minority or women-owned firm.
While not all of the cash spent by Boston 2004 went to Massachusetts firms, all of the minority- or women-owned companies that got business are based here, according to the data. Boston 2004 spent the bulk of its cash, $35.3 million, with Massachusetts companies.
Those companies that did get convention business said they were satisfied with how the process worked.
"It was a positive experience," said Eddie Owens, president of Owens Movers in Everett. Owens's company, which bills itself as the oldest minority-owned company in New England, was hired to move fixtures in and out of the FleetCenter, where the convention was held.
Donna Latson Gittens, whose Newton firm, causemedia Inc., wrote the Boston 2004 community outreach plan and helped organize the convention media party, said she was happy to get business. Still, she and other minority and women-owned firms knew not to expect huge profits from the convention.
"We got contracts. Were they multimillion-dollar contracts? Absolutely not," she said. "From our perspective, it was managing expectations."
Still, the missing vendor directory casts doubt over whether Menino's plan for helping minority- and women-owned companies benefit long after the convention will ever be achieved. Boston 2004 compiled and maintained the list on its website before and during the convention. The group's website was taken off its servers recently, and Boston 2004 executives acknowledge that printed copies of the directory were never made.
"That's crazy, particularly because what the directory does is provide a reference for future opportunities," said City Councilor Chuck Turner. He said he plans to call a hearing before the City Council to ask Boston 2004 officials for more data on how well they did in giving business to minorities and women.
Menino himself did not know that the directory had disappeared. "I thought it was one of the most valuable things we did during the convention," he said.
The mayor said he would meet with Boston 2004 officials to decide the fate of the directory, adding that he envisioned it being printed and made available to companies through either the city's Department of Neighborhood Development or the Boston Redevelopment Authority.
Companies included in the directory had to prove their certification as either small companies, minority-owned, or women-owned by one of six agencies: the Center for Women in Enterprise, the National Minority Supplier Development Council, the New England Minority Supplier Development Council, the Massachusetts State Office of Minority and Women Business Assistance, the City of Boston Small and Local Minority Business Enterprise Office, and the Women's Business Enterprise National Council. Boston 2004 chairman Passafaro said his group had fulfilled its responsibility by keeping the vendor directory online during the convention and for several weeks afterwards, but noted that the host committee never indicated it would print and widely distribute the document.
Passafaro said the databases used to create the directory still exists. If companies still wanted to access it, "I'm sure we could find a way to get it to them," he said.
The Globe asked for the databases, but the committee said they were unavailable.
Keith Reed can be reached at reed@globe.com. 