Houston to consider changes to subcontracting program for minority-owned businesses

City of Houston officials are considering having to transfer some Hispanic-and-Asian-owned businesses out of the city’s Minority & Women-Owned Business Enterprises program. Although the program has helped many small, minority-owned contracting businesses progress economically, city officials said it’s under threat of elimination. What’s happening? The city’s Office of Business Opportunity has offered the MWBE program since 1984, which allows minority-and-women-owned businesses an equal opportunity to work on city government contracts. However, the program could be eliminated because of a lawsuit filed in 2023 against the city by a white couple from Spring who own two landscaping companies, Cylenthia Hoyrd, director of the office, said during the March 19 Economic Development Committee meeting. The lawsuit states the program violates the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution. The couple claims their companies were in a five-year, $1.3 million contract with the city; however, under the program’s rules, they were forced to pay $143,000 to a minority-owned competitor to finish part of the work, according to the lawsuit. The overview The trial will determine whether or not the program is unconstitutional, and if so, the program could be forced to shut down, Hoyrd said. A disparity study—conducted by MGT...