Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) Program

The Need for a Level Playing Field

While the nation has made great progress towards true equal opportunity, much remains to be done. This is especially true in the transportation related construction industries. While minorities represent more than 20% of the population, they own only 9% of all construction firms and receive about 5% of construction receipts. While women represent 50% of the population, women owned construction firms receive only 48 cents of every dollar that we would expect them to receive given their availability in the marketplace. The DBE program works to remedy these inequalities. Moreover, it is obvious that when affirmative action programs like the DBE program are eliminated or curtailed at the state and local level, participation by women and minority owned firms plummets. The bottom line is that The DBE program is still needed today to remedy discrimination.