Case Study:

Inclusionary Contracting at Augsburg University

In early 2016, Augsburg sought to implement the Partnership’s inclusionary contracting goal of hiring more minority and woman-owned local businesses when it began a major construction project on campus. Augsburg was the first CCAP member to employ the inclusionary contracting policy adopted in December 2014. The policy asks CCAP members to consider adding contract language on large capital projects of $250,000 or greater that commits to hiring local, women, or minority-owned firms for a minimum of 10% of total project cost.

During summer 2016, McGough Construction, the general contractor for Augsburg University’s Hagfors Center for Science, Business, and Religion, relied on almost 15% local, women, or minority-owned firms to complete the project—an economic value of $8 million. The largest of the contracts was over $3 million, awarded to Twin City Glass Contractors, a woman-owned business located in the Central Corridor.  

Many of CCAP’s public members are dedicated to similar goals, to which they are committed through state contracting requirements. In the Twin Cities, public institutions and private business corporations have developed best practices and managed economic inclusion policies and programs using Minority Business Enterprises (MBE) and other targeted vendors. General contractors are familiar with economic inclusion policies that target MBEs and Local Business Enterprises (LBE) and they are capable of fulfilling the requirements of these policies without adding significant costs.