As of May 9, 2024, the Department of Transportation’s new rule governing the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) and Airport Concession Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (ACDBE) program went into effect.
These are application-based certification programs, based on federal rules but administered by state Departments of Transportation. Certification is open to qualifying small businesses owned by women and certain minority groups. Participation opens the door to millions of dollars in set-aside prime- and sub-contracting opportunities, particularly at the state and local level.
The DOT’s new rule introduces many changes from the old rules, two of which I’d like to highlight here:
First, the personal net worth cutoff has seen a massive increase. Previously, businesses were only eligible for the DBE program if their owners had a personal net worth less than $1.3 million. Now, that is set at $1.6 million in 2019 dollars, pegged to inflation. The current cap (good for the next three years) is $2,047,000. (Set your calendars to check back again on May 9, 2027!) This jump of more than 55% is likely to greatly expand eligibility for the DBE program. If you weren’t eligible before, are you eligible now?
Second, all of the forms for DBE application have changed, and almost no states have updated their own websites yet. If you’re in the process of filling out an application, it would be a good idea to use the correct form available from the US DOT – and probably also to reach out to your state DOT to make sure they got the memo about the update.