Leaders in Orange County, one of Florida’s bluest and most diverse communities, will consider suspending the county’s Minority Women Business Enterprise program Tuesday, in order to comply with anti-DEI directives from the Trump administration.
The county’s program, first established in 1988, is intended to expand opportunities for minority and women-owned businesses to secure county contracts for construction, professional services, goods, and other county projects.
It offers certain bidding preferences for certified M/WBE contractors, incentives for minority participation, and sets goals for percentages of minority participation in county contracts. The intention is to help address racial and gender disparities in the procurement process and to promote the business and economic growth of minority- and female-owned enterprises who have historically been underrepresented…