Impediments and approaches to minority and women business enterprise participation in Southern California’s public sector

![CDATA[When the Minority Business Development Agency was developed in 1969, efforts to promote buyer/supplier relationships emerged in various areas of the public sector, the private sector and the Minority and Women Business Enterprise (MIWBE) (Thompson & Hood, 1993). For example, Public Agencies (PAs) created outreach and M/WBE programs within their organisations while M/WBEs create and/or join organisations such as the National Minority Supplier Development Council. Additionally, private organisations saw the benefits of being socially responsible and made attempts at increasing the amount of purchases from M/WBEs. However, the efforts of these agencies failed to consistently build mutually beneficial associations due to the various stakeholders' inability to agree on impediments and approaches that would enable lasting relationships. Thus, the enactment of Public Law 99-661 gave further incentive. This law required firms that contracted with the government to source at least five percent of each contract from M/WBEs. Requiring such set-aside programs greatly increased the pressure to find and/or develop M/WBEs.]]