Concerns about the future have intensified as Donald Trump prepares to be sworn in as the 47th U.S. president.
The Washington Post reports minority- and women-owned businesses have looming concerns over contracts, citing a potential loss of $70 billion in annual contracts amid legal disputes affecting government programs for “disadvantaged” firms.
Within the Black community, legal issues were prevalent amid Fearless Fund’s ongoing litigation, which has now been settled. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, the firm, led by founding partner Arian Simone, was sued by Edward Blum and his American Alliance for Equal Rights group in August 2023 over its Strivers Grant program. The $20,000 grant backed by JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Mastercard had been aimed at small businesses primarily owned by Black women, and the activist group accused the investment firm of “explicit racial exclusion.”
The group had already been victorious in the Supreme Court over race-based affirmative action policies. Ultimately, the resolution was a settlement, which also led to the closure of the Strivers Grant program.
The Washington Post reports that, following several court rulings affecting key diversity initiatives, top agencies have been urged to remove race and gender as criteria in their processes.
This includes Kentucky’s Transportation Department’s Disadvantaged Business Enterprise program, which has supported minorities and women for several decades with funding and currently reaches 49,000 participants. However, U.S. District Judge Gregory F. Van Tatenhove blocked a portion of the program and has expressed interest in fully blocking it from awarding grants based on minorities and women presumably being disadvantaged.
“It would be a minority business crisis if this program went away,” said Chicago, IL-based entrepreneur Shon Harris, according to The Washington Post. “From an African American contracting standpoint, it’s pretty scary to think that these programs won’t be around. And to try to prepare for them is not necessarily all in our hands. … It’s not like the problems with bias and racism won’t exist anymore.”
Tony Franco, a managing partner at law firm PilieroMazza, commented to the outlet:
“A reality has set in that it’s a different game.” He added that the government’s aim to achieve equality will “require much more thinking through of how to get to disadvantaged communities of all races.”
ReedSmith partner and government contractors attorney Kendra Perkins Norwood echoed this sentiment and shared that individuals will have to do more to prove they are experiencing discrimination. That’s why she encourages proactiveness among minority and women contractors.
“You’re going to have to certainly be prepared to meet a higher standard to demonstrate why you deserve to have access to these programs, and it’ll become more competitive,” she explained.
