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EXHIBIT A CITY OF PORTSMOUTH MINORITY AND WOMEN BUSINESS ENTERPRISE (MWBE) INCLUSION POLICY 1. Declaration of Policy Statement a. It is the policy of the City Council of the City of Portsmouth, hereinafter referred to as the City to: (1) provide minorities and women equal opportunity to participate in all aspects of the City's procurement and contracting opportunities and departmental purchases, including but not limited to, participation in City's solicitation for contracts for goods, materials, services, construction and repair work activities and lease agreements; (2) prohibit discrimination against any person or business in pursuit of these opportunities on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, national origin, age, disability, or status as a service-disabled veteran, and (3) to conduct its procurement and contracting programs so as to prevent any discrimination prohibited by state law and federal law relating to discrimination in employment. b. The City seeks to develop and grow minority and women businesses in the Portsmouth area, and to remediate the effects of discrimination against minority and women-owned firms that has adversely affected their ability to participate in City contracts. The City further seeks to enhance competition in City contracting and promote economic growth and development in the City by: • Promoting existing minority, and women business growth and profitability in the Portsmouth Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA); • Monitoring, evaluating and reporting on SBE and MWBE participation and contract compliance; • Promoting the Economic Development initiatives by including the utilization of minorities, women, and service-disabled veterans. 2. Enabling Action a. In September 2013 the City retained MGT of America, Inc. to conduct a Procurement Disparity Study to (a) determine whether disparity exists between the number of MWBE firms available to perform on City contracts and the City's utilization of these firms; and (b) determine the extent to which any disparities found are attributable to discrimination. The Disparity Study found that statistically significant disparities exist between the availability. and utilization of minority and women owned businesses, both in City contracting and in the private sector. The Disparity Study recommended the adoption of race and gender conscious measures that are narrowly-tailored to the findings of the study. The Disparity Study recommended the development of a MWBE program to include but not limited to the following elements: