As of the latest developments in the industry, there are Virginia transportation officials who are closely examining various prospects for amending the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) program as well as the Airport Concession Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (ACDBE) program in response to various alterations in federal guidance/funding developments. 

While the Trump administration has not eliminated the DBE program, it has totally altered it by emphasizing race-neutral contracting measures, shifting compliance away from rigid participation quotas toward legally defensible procedures based on showing and documenting social and economic disadvantage individually.

State DOTs are independent state agencies, but they follow federal DOT rules and priorities because accepting federal transportation funding requires that they be in compliance with federal laws, standards, and oversight.

State policymakers have thus been in discussion on how to institutionalize various changes to the DBE or ACDBE certification processes at the state level, setting goals, as well as report writing for transportation projects being developed in the state, with federal funds allocated to them. 

As far as transportation stakeholders in Virginia are concerned, this issue remains of prime interest due to the Commonwealth’s current and expected investment plans in its capital base. 

The Commonwealth of Virginia is set to spend more in its long-term investment plans in the coming years for various capital improvements in the state to the tune of $7 billion.

Similarly, the continued growth of major corridors such as the almost completed $660 million I-495 project under the auspices of the Virginia Transportation Department emphasizes the significance of robust DBE/ACDBE engagement to satisfy federal as well as state diversity objectives.