Prince William County completes 2025 SWaMDV disparity study

VA News - Published Feb 19, 2026

The Office of Procurement Services for Prince William County, Virginia, recently completed its 2025 disparity study, the first ever such study conducted by the County. The study examined the experiences of small, women-owned, minority-owned, and service-disabled veteran-owned (SWaMDV) businesses in doing business (or attempting to do business) with the County, to determine if there is a disparity in the utilization of such firms, and, if so, to propose remedies.

The findings of the study indicated that some of the barriers faced by SWaMDV businesses included being subcontracted by large primes without actually being given a "meaningful share of the work"; difficulty developing business relationships through existing informal industry networks; difficulty accessing capital and bonding; and difficulty in finding and analyzing the various processes and requirements that are involved in government work.

Recommendations made by the study for remedying disparities included (but were not limited to): establishing a business inclusion program at the County to support SWaMDVs; setting aspirational SWaMDV participation goals across County contracts; and improving the collection of procurement data to better track the experiences of SWaMDVs in working for the County.

"This study gives us a clearer picture of how our procurement process is working and where it can work better," said County Executive Chris Shorter in a statement.

Read the press release regarding the study from the County at https://www.pwcva.gov/news/county-disparity-study-identifies-opportunities-strengthen-access-and-transparency-procurement.

Find the County's page for the disparity study at https://www.pwcva.gov/department/procurement-services/disparity-study.