On July 1, Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport is debuting their newly revised Minority/Women Business Enterprise Program, which Transitioned from an SBE Program for Construction under $1 million and Goods and Services to all local programs M/WBE
“Anyone that wants to run an MWBE program needs a legal justification to have the program,” Tamela Lee, Vice President of Business Diversity and Development at DFW, said. “So we commissioned a disparity study, and after the study was complete and the findings were released, it was recommended that we do an MWBE program. The Board adopted the revised version of the program on January 9 and it will go into effect on July 1.”
There are three basic changes differing the new MWBE Program from the former:
- DFW transitioned from an SBE Program for construction under a million dollars to all of the programs now being MWBEs. There is no longer an SBE program.
- All MWBE annual goals were amended to fit the findings of the disparity study.
- The relevant area market was reduced from 12 to four counties: Collin, Dallas, Denton and Tarrant.
“The last study we had didn’t really allow for women in construction,” Lee said. “It indicated that they had been over utilized. Prior to this, we had an SBE program for construction under a million and all of our goods and services out of procurement, and we had a MBE program for just construction and MWBE for professional services and construction related services. Now, it is just one MWBE program for everything, which includes: general goods and services, construction related professional services, construction services, legal, treasury, third party commercial development and third party concession tenant finish outs. That excludes our federal programs that we still have to run for Airport Concessions Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program and our Disadvantaged Business Enterprise for federal programs.”
Another change that has been implemented is to the contracts. Many of them start off under $50,000, and the MWBE program only applies to contracts over $50,000. So, in line with being more inclusive, the under $50,000 contracts that increase in value are reevaluated and can apply to MWBEs when they reach the over $50,000 mark. This helps ensure that minority and women-owned businesses in North Texas are getting hired for these jobs.
Businesses interested in doing business with the airport through the MWBE Program must be certified as a women or minority-owned business through the North Central Texas Regional Certification Agency, Women’s Business Council or DFW Minority Supplier Development Council. There is no personal net worth or size standard requirement.
“The most important thing the disparity study showed us was that there are still discriminatory practices in the marketplace that prevent MWBEs from getting business opportunities,” Lee said. “If we were to list a solicitation with no goals to meet, I can guarantee there would be no minority or women-owned businesses used on the job. So, it is important that we bring diversity among our supplier and construction group to employ opportunities to MWBEs who we know will do a great job.”
As an airport, DFW values diversity, and they can ensure they do everything possible to carry the MWBE program all the way through. They look at important points like bringing a diverse team but also if these teams are being paid properly and timely. There can be unfortunate actions for those that do not meet their commitment to the airport such as no longer being able to bid with the airport. The commitment is to growing the MWBE Program and doing more than just saying “Yes, we do have an MWBE Program.”
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, DFW has continued to be avid in their outreach to the MWBE community. Virtually, they have continued to work with Minority and Women Chambers and contractor associations in the area as well as hold concession forums, forums with Prime contractors and M/WBEs.. In their Capacity Building series, they have seen attendance grow from an average of 40-50 attendees to over 150 attendees since going virtual.
Lee says that for this MWBE Program to be a success, it must achieve four things:
- The set goals are exceeded.
- There are new entrees into the program as a result of the program. Those who have never had an opportunity to work with the airport now have that opportunity.
- Building capacity. DFW wants this program to grow, which is the intent of the Capacity Building series, a series that helps people know how to actually do business with the airport.
- Once some MWBEs grow in capacity and are able to compete as Primes instead of subcontractors, they are continuing to reach out and do business with other MWBEs.
“At the end of the day, it would be nice if these programs did not even have to exist because that would mean there was no discrimination in the marketplace,” Lee said. “But until then, we certainly want to encourage MWBEs to get into the business and grow their capacity so they can get larger and have more opportunity.”
