FHWA VIEWPOINT OF THE DISADVANTAGED BUSINESS ENTERPRISE PROGRAM

The disadvantaged business enterprise (DBE) program and its predecessor, the minority business enterprise (MBE) program, have been a part of FHWA's federal-aid highway program since the early 1970s. The MBE program, early on, was integrated into the federal-aid highway program through each state's nondiscrimination affirmative action plans to ensure equal opportunity for individuals in federally assisted projects. The 1982 and 1987 federal-aid highway program reauthorization acts revamped the MBE program to the DBE program and established the clear statutory authority, which exists today. The 1982 and 1987 acts also implemented several key components of today's program, including a national 10% achievement goal, a precise eligibility definition, inclusion of women as a presumptive group, and uniform certification criteria. Each of these elements has significantly contributed to a program that has as its principal objective maximizing the opportunity of bona fide DBEs to participate in federally assisted contracts, while minimizing the potential of firms fraudulently trying to enter the pregram and failing to perform a commercially useful function. The program has shown considerable growth, especially since the enactment of a statutory goal in 1982. Since 1982, approximately $10.3 billion of federal-aid funds have been awarded to DBEs on federal-aid highway projects.

• Record URL:
  http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/trr/1990/1282/1282-019.pdf
• Record URL:
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• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper appears in Transportation Research Record No. 1282, Transportation Construction 1990. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved
• Authors:
  • Gendell, David S
  • Gibbs, David C
  • Klemstine, Charles W
• Publication Date: 1990

Media Info

• Features: References; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 128-132
• Monograph Title: Transportation construction, 1990
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Record
  • Issue Number: 1282
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0361-1981

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Disadvantaged business enterprises; Federal aid highways; Minority business enterprises; Strategic planning
• Identifier Terms: Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1982; U.S. Federal Highway Administration
• Old TRIS Terms: Achievement goal; Surface transp & uniform relocation assist act1987
• Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Construction; Highways; I10: Economics and Administration; I50: Construction and Supervision of Construction;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00605686
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 0309050596
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Mar 31 1991 12:00AM