MORPC Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program

The Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission (MORPC) maintains a disadvantaged business
enterprise (DBE) program per U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) requirements contained in 49 CFR 26.  The purpose of the DOT DBE program is to ensure non-discrimination in the award and administration of DOT-assisted contracts.

DOT figures show that in 1978, women and minority participation in DOT contracts was at 1.9 percent.  The DOT DBE program was started in 1983 and by 1996 women and minority participation had risen to 14.8 percent.  There also is evidence, from the local and state levels, that when DBE-type programs are curtailed, women and minority participation again plummets.

MORPC has had a DBE program with a goal of 12 percent for many years.  Generally, MORPC tries to meet the goal by encouraging prime contractors to expend at least 12 percent of the funds they receive from MORPC on DBE subcontractors, when possible.

The MORPC DBE program was updated in 2002.  See MORPC DBE program (129kb pdf).

Each year, if MORPC expects to contract out work exceeding $250,000 of Federal Transit
Administration or Federal Highway Administration funds, we are required to update the MORPC DBE goal. This update usually happens in August.

To be eligible for the DBE program, a business must be certified as a DBE by a DOT-authorized certification agency such as the Ohio Department of Transportation.  The Ohio Unified Certification Program (Ohio UCP) is a "one-stop" certification process for the federal DBE programs in Ohio.  The Ohio UCP consolidates all DBE firms certified by seven different agencies into one centralized DBE directory for DOT-funded contracts for airports, highways, and public transit.  Certification applications can be submitted on-line (see Ohio UCP link below).

Ownership of a DBE must be by someone who is socially and economically disadvantaged and
African-Americans, Hispanics, other minority groups and women are assumed to be such, but other individuals who can demonstrate to the certifying agency that they are socially and economically disadvantaged also are eligible.  Owners of DBEs must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents, have an individual net worth of less than $750,000 and the size of the firm must meet size standards of the U.S. Small Business Administration (see links below).

MORPC is continually reviewing its DBE program and related efforts to try to improve opportunities for small contractors and we welcome any suggestions for how we can make the program better.  Please provide any suggestions or comments to Ethan Ortman at eortman@morpc.org or 614-233-4153.

For more information on the U.S. Department of Transportation DBE requirements, see http://osdbu.dot.gov.  For more information on the DBE certification process, see the Ohio UCP site at https://www.ohioucp.org/index.vm.