Kansas City, Missouri – Kansas City is preparing to overhaul the way local companies compete for City contracts, replacing a program that has operated for decades with a broader system built around business size and local presence.
The shift would retire Kansas City’s Minority and Women-owned Business Enterprise program, commonly known as MWBE, while creating three new certification levels aimed at keeping contracting opportunities open to firms across the metropolitan area. The City Council advanced the proposal Wednesday, with final approval expected Thursday.
City officials stress that the move is a replacement rather than an elimination of its contracting efforts. The new structure follows recent legal challenges, including a lawsuit pursued by Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway and a U.S. Supreme Court decision that limits how local governments can address historical racial and gender disparities.
Under the proposed system, businesses would qualify through one of three tiers.
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Local Business Enterprises, or LBEs, would be eligible for participation goals on the City’s largest construction contracts valued at $25 million or more. Local Small Business Enterprises, known as LSBEs, would qualify for participation goals on contracts worth at least $400,000.
The smallest companies would fall under the Emerging Business Enterprise category. EBEs could compete for set-aside solicitations and receive bid incentives on contracts below $400,000. They would also be eligible for prepayment of up to 10 percent, no retainage and payments every two weeks.
The ordinance would establish an annual citywide participation goal for certified local and small businesses. It also preserves mentor-protégé arrangements and joint ventures while continuing bonding, financing and technical assistance services.
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A public directory of certified firms would remain available through the Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity Department. To qualify, companies must be headquartered in the Kansas City metropolitan area or maintain what the ordinance describes as a real and substantial presence there.
“Kansas City has spent more than four decades working to ensure City contracts reach businesses and people in every corner of our community,” Mayor Quinton Lucas said.
Lucas said the replacement program would continue the City’s work supporting minority- and women-owned businesses while expanding opportunities more broadly.
“What comes next is a stronger, broader program that follows in the legacy of our groundbreaking work to build, sustain, and celebrate outstanding minority and women owned firms,” Lucas said.
If approved by the full Council, the new framework would become Kansas City’s next approach to connecting small and locally based companies with public contracts while adapting the system to a changed legal environment.
