DOT highlights opportunities for small, minority-, women-owned businesses under modernized DBE program; Wealth Creation Tour stops in Philadelphia on September 17, 2024

PHILADELPHIA, PA – Today, as part of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s ongoing Wealth Creation Tour, U.S. Transportation Acting Under Secretary of Transportation for Policy Christopher Coes will be in Philadelphia alongside leaders from DOT’s Office of Civil Rights (DOCR). They will highlight how the Biden-Harris Administration has modernized the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) and Airport Concessions Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (ACDBE) program, created in 1983, and is making federal contracts more accessible to small, women-owned, and minority-owned businesses. With more than 60,000 projects funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law announced across the country – and counting – the Biden-Harris Administration is creating unprecedented opportunity for businesses that have historically been underrepresented in federal contracting. 

During today’s visit to Philadelphia, Acting Under Secretary Coes and other DOT officials will hear directly from small businesses and transportation leaders. This visit marks the fourth stop of DOCR’s Wealth Creation Tour, following events in Cleveland, OH, Houston, TX, and Nashville, TN.  

“Access to safe, reliable transportation is a necessity for all Americans. But transportation — and the economic opportunities that come with both building and using America’s transportation systems — have not always been equitably available,” said USDOT Acting Under Secretary of Transportation for Policy Christopher Coes. “I’m honored to be in Philadelphia today to highlight the Biden-Harris Administration’s ongoing work to reshape and expand America’s transportation systems while providing wealth creating opportunities for small businesses and everyday Americans.”

Since the start of the Biden-Harris Administration, DOT has increased opportunities for small and disadvantaged businesses to participate in federally funded infrastructure projects. In April of 2024, under the leadership of Secretary Pete Buttigieg and the DOCR team, DOT published a rule to modernize DBE and ACDBE program regulations, modernize DBE program regulations ensuring that all small, minority- and women-owned businesses have a fair chance to compete for federal and federally assisted projects. 

The revised regulations are designed to:

• Address discrimination and continued effects of past discrimination in federally assisted highway, transit, airport, and highway safety transportation contracting markets nationwide. 
• Level the playing field by ensuring all small business owners get a fair shot at federally funded transportation contracts.
• Create a fairer environment for competition by: 
• Streamlining the DBE and Airport Concessions DBE (ACDBE) certification and eligibility process. Nationwide, the program is implemented by 53 departments of transportation, more than 500 transit agencies, and 3,200 eligible airport sponsors. There are nearly 50,000 certified DBEs and 3,500 certified ACDBEs, and many participate on federally assisted aviation, highway, and transit projects as well as airport concession opportunities in nearly every jurisdiction.
  • Updating personal net worth and program size thresholds for inflation to ensure more businesses that would benefit from becoming a DBE are eligible.
  • Modernizing rules for counting of material suppliers.
  • Adding new elements to foster greater usage of DBEs and ACDBEs.
  • Updating certification requirements with less prescriptive rules that give certifiers flexibility when determining eligibility.
  • Making technical corrections that have led to misinterpretations of the rules by recipients, program applicants, and participants.

Additionally, the Biden-Harris Administration has launched a whole-of-government effort to expand access to federal contracts for small businesses, awarding a record $69.9 billion to small, disadvantaged businesses in 2022.

To date, the Biden-Harris Administration has:

• Achieved the fastest creation rate of Black-owned businesses in more than 30 years — and more than doubled the share of Black business owners from 2019 to 2022.
• Improved the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) flagship loan guarantee programs to expand the availability of capital to underserved communities. Since 2020, the number and dollar value of SBA-backed loans to Black-owned businesses have more than doubled.
• Launched a whole-of-government effort to expand access to federal contracts for small businesses, awarding a record $69.9 billion to small, disadvantaged businesses in 2022.
• Through Treasury’s State Small Business Credit Initiative, invested $10 billion to expand access to capital and invest in early-stage businesses in all 50 states—including $2.5 billion in funding and incentive allocations dedicated to support the provision of capital to underserved businesses with $1 billion of these funds to be awarded to the jurisdictions that are most successful in reaching underserved businesses.
• Helped more than 37,000 farmers and ranchers who were in financial distress, including Black farmers and ranchers, stay on their farms and keep farming, thanks to resources provided through IRA. The IRA allocated $3.1 billion for the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to provide relief for distressed borrowers with at-risk agricultural operations with outstanding direct or guaranteed Farm Service Agency loans. USDA has provided over $2 billion and counting in timely assistance.
• Supported small and disadvantaged businesses through CHIPS Act funding by requiring funding applicants to develop a workforce plan to create equitable pathways for economically disadvantaged individuals in their region, as well as a plan to support procurement from small, minority-owned, veteran-owned, and women-owned businesses.

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