During a two-day summit in Washington for small disadvantaged and minority-owned (DBE/MBE) businesses, Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood announced that, under the Obama administration, DBEs and MBEs have received American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) contracts totaling more than $1.3 billion.

The purpose of the March 24-25 summit, “The Road to Recovery,” was to help economically disadvantaged businesses compete for DOT contracts.

“We’ve made significant strides over the last year in reaching out to small businesses around the country and providing the tools they need to compete and to thrive in this tough economy,” the secretary said. “The contracts we have awarded have kept a lot of small businesses going and many jobs were saved or created.”

LaHood also reported on initiatives proposed to strengthen the department’s DBE efforts and announced plans to launch a demonstration program in five areas—Louisville, KY-New Albany, IN; Denver, CO; Hartford, CT; Phoenix, AZ; and Brooklyn-Queens, NY.  These initiatives are similar to those in Missouri and Wisconsin, which have proven to be successful models for awarding subcontracts on ARRA projects.

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