ORLANDO, Fla. – A spokesperson for the city of Orlando confirmed Wednesday that the city has suspended its Minority and Women Business Enterprise Program in order to comply with federal law and ensure the city doesn’t engage in sexual or racial discrimination.
With a stated mission to “increase the opportunity for minority and woman-owned businesses to participate in city procurement“ by ensuring equal contracting opportunities for said businesses, the program’s webpage — which now only displays a message about the suspension — at one point served as a portal for the registration and renewal of a so-called Minority of Women-Owned Enterprise (MWBE), as well as a tool to find local MWBEs.
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“Effective immediately, the City’s Chapter 57 Articles II and III, Minority and Women Business Enterprise Program is suspended. This is to ensure the city is in compliance with federal law," the program’s web page currently states. “The city will provide updates when any further developments should occur.”
According to the city spokesperson, Orlando’s decision to suspend the program was in response to “recent federal grant conditions.”
“Under these new guidelines, the city must comply with applicable laws ensuring that we do not operate any programs that discriminate based on race or gender,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “We are currently pausing our MWBE program and we’ve engaged a nationally recognized expert to help evaluate and recommend the best path forward.”
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For those that were in the program there is good news on the horizion. The city has been working to create a new small business program that will support all involved.
“So we were already in the planning stages of coming up with a small business program, which, of course, was still supporting the businesses,” said Janeiro Coulter. “All of the businesses currently in our program, except businesses located out of state. The program that we’re going to replace it with will be a local program.”
The MWBE program has operated for over 40 years and involved 616 businesses, Coulter told News 6.
The program was designed as a way to boost participation from minority businesses and help them grow.
Before the sunsetting of the program, it had a 12% minority participation.
A recent Associated Press analysis aided by the bill-tracking software Plural showed U.S. governors and lawmakers in 2025 have about doubled last year’s actions targeting Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives (DEI), which had roughly doubled those of 2023. The surge comes as President Donald Trump’s executive orders seeking to halt DEI initiatives ripple through the federal government, universities and schools, despite legal challenges.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.