{"id":394338,"date":"2026-08-01T03:56:08","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T03:56:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/394338\/"},"modified":"2026-08-01T03:56:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T03:56:08","slug":"judge-strikes-down-houston-minority-contracting-rule-leaving-business-owners-uncertain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/394338\/","title":{"rendered":"Judge strikes down Houston minority contracting rule, leaving business owners uncertain"},"content":{"rendered":"

HOUSTON \u2013 For more than four decades, Houston\u2019s Minority, Women and Small Business Enterprise (MWSBE) <\/a>Program has helped connect certified businesses with city contracting opportunities.<\/p>\n

Now, a federal judge\u2019s ruling is changing part of that process.<\/p>\n

A federal judge ruled the City of Houston can no longer consider race when awarding certain public contracts, striking down the race-conscious portion of the city\u2019s Minority, Women and Small Business Enterprise Program. The ruling also applies to the Midtown Management District\u2019s minority contracting program.<\/p>\n

While the decision does not eliminate Houston\u2019s MWSBE program entirely, it prevents the city from using race-conscious provisions when awarding contracts unless the ruling is overturned on appeal.<\/p>\n

For some business owners, the decision raises questions about what future opportunities could look like.<\/p>\n

For Niles Dillard, owner of Superior Video Productions, one opportunity changed the course of his business.<\/p>\n

After spending years producing wedding videos, Dillard said becoming certified through Houston\u2019s MWSBE program opened doors he never imagined.<\/p>\n

That certification helped his company compete for work tied to major events, including Super Bowl XXXVIII in 2004 and Super Bowl LI in 2017, while also securing contracts with the City of Houston, Houston Airport Systems and Houston Independent School District.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was real crazy but it allowed us to be seen,\u201d Dillard said about working the Super Bowl.<\/p>\n

He credits the city\u2019s certification program with helping his company expand beyond weddings into corporate and national events.<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore that, we concentrated on weddings,\u201d Dillard said. \u201cWe went from wedding videography to doing business with the NFL, NCAA, USA Olympic swimming, all types of corporations based on that one opportunity that we were awarded in 2004.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dillard said the certification did more than help him compete for contracts. He said it also created networking opportunities and relationships that helped his company continue growing.<\/p>\n

Now, he worries future minority-owned businesses could face additional challenges accessing those same opportunities.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all know historically it\u2019s been a disadvantage when it comes to minority-owned firms competing for contracts and opportunities,\u201d Dillard said. \u201cThe only reason why programs like this and other programs exist is because the playing field has never been leveled. Companies like myself were not looking for handouts. We\u2019re looking for opportunities to be at the table when everything begins\u2014not at the tail end when everything is done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Ashlei Atkins, president and CEO of the Greater Houston Black Chamber of Commerce, said the organization serves approximately 500 member businesses, many of which are either certified through the city\u2019s program or currently working toward certification.<\/p>\n

She said the ruling has left some business owners uncertain about what to do next.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of our members are currently in the process of becoming certified to go after these opportunities,\u201d Atkins said. \u201cIt puts them at a standstill. Do I finish the certification process? Do I not? What do I do?\u201d<\/p>\n

Atkins said the uncertainty extends beyond businesses seeking certification.<\/p>\n

She said many minority-owned companies rely on public contracting opportunities to support employees and continue growing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are businesses that gain their livelihood from these opportunities,\u201d Atkins said. \u201cIf there are no more MWBE programs, how do you pay your employees? How do you keep your business growing, especially if your business has grown to a certain level and you need those opportunities to continue to sustain that growth?\u201d<\/p>\n

The court\u2019s decision strikes down the race-conscious portion of Houston\u2019s Minority, Women and Small Business Enterprise Program.<\/p>\n

However, it does not eliminate the program entirely.<\/p>\n

According to the City of Houston, the ruling does not affect the program\u2019s women-owned or small business components. City officials also said existing contracts and recently awarded contracts are not impacted at this time.<\/p>\n

In a statement, the city said it is reviewing the court\u2019s decision and evaluating whether to appeal. Officials said Houston will comply with the ruling while it remains in effect.<\/p>\n

The decision marks a significant change to how certain public contracts may be awarded in Houston moving forward.<\/p>\n

Business leaders say they\u2019ll be watching closely to see whether the city appeals the ruling and how future contracting policies evolve.<\/p>\n

For Dillard, the concern is less about his own business and more about those just getting started.<\/p>\n

He hopes future entrepreneurs will continue to have opportunities to compete for public contracts and build relationships that can help grow their companies, just as he did more than two decades ago.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HOUSTON \u2013 For more than four decades, Houston\u2019s Minority, Women and Small Business Enterprise (MWSBE) Program has helped…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":394339,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[910,3766,38667,56,58,57,138776,138777],"class_list":["post-394338","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-business","tag-city-of-houston","tag-enterprise","tag-houston","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news","tag-minority-contracts","tag-mwsbe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394338","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=394338"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394338\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/394339"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=394338"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=394338"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=394338"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}