The Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) Program is a pathway for diverse businesses to contribute meaningfully to infrastructure, innovation, and job creation. It remains one of the few federal efforts that helps level the playing field in an industry where a legacy of discrimination has excluded, and continues to exclude, qualified businesses.
Despite its proven impact, the DBE Program faces an existential threat. It must be reauthorized by Congress within the next year, yet it’s not on our representatives’ priority list. We must make them hear us: this program is as essential to small businesses and the communities they serve as it has ever been.
That’s why we’re building a coalition of organizations and small business owners who understand what’s at stake. This group will be led by Women First NLC and focused on organizing Congressional advocacy efforts for the DBE Program.
The Department of Transportation just issued its Interim Final Rule on the DBE Program – a clear signal that the window to act is closing. What we do in the coming months will determine whether this program survives.
Ready to join the coalition? Email Joann Payne at womenfirstnlc@gmail.com – we welcome both individuals and organizations. You can also take action today by:
- Contacting Your Representatives: Lawmakers listen to what matters to their constituents, so call your representatives and ask them to reauthorize the DBE Program. Look up your representatives and their phone numbers, and make sure to include your zip code in any messages you leave so they know you’re a constituent.
- Signing Our Petition: We’re showing that there is support for the DBE Program by collecting signatures calling on Congress to save it – please sign!
Thank you for standing with us. Together, our voices are powerful, and together, we will protect this vital program.
Sincerely,
Joann Payne
President, Women First
womenfirstnlc@gmail.com