Cuyahoga County is backing away from long standing diversity goals on a big slice of its construction work, saying federal rules tied to the Trump administration have effectively boxed local leaders in.
County officials told a public works committee that they will stop setting contract goals that require a portion of federally funded work to go to minority and women owned firms. The shift applies only to projects that use federal dollars, but it still landed with a thud in the council chambers. Staff said they are trying to stay in line with new federal guidance while looking for ways to keep opportunities flowing to small and disadvantaged businesses.
Because of that guidance, the county "can no longer set contracting goals requiring some work to go to minority- and women-owned businesses" on projects backed by federal funds, according to Cleveland.com. At the meeting, Councilman Pernel Jones Jr. blasted the change as "This is blackmail" and urged colleagues to push back. County staff, for their part, stressed that nothing is changing for contracts paid with local money.
Federal Rule Changed How DBE Goals Are Applied
In October 2025 the U.S. Department of Transportation issued an interim final rule that stripped out long used race and sex based presumptions from the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise program and told agencies to pause setting DBE goals while firms are reevaluated, according to the Federal Register. In practice, that has pushed many state and local agencies to advertise federally funded projects with 0% DBE goals while Unified Certification Programs redo their paperwork.
Reporters have also detailed a broader administration effort that flagged DEI related language in federal programs and briefly froze some grant payments, adding one more layer of pressure on local governments to comply, according to The Washington Post.
Local Projects That May Be Affected
County staff said several high profile jobs could be caught up in the new approach, including a Hilliard Road bridge replacement pegged at about $65 million, a Lee Road bridge rehabilitation in Maple Heights at roughly $1.7 million, and more than $15 million in airport projects, as reported by Cleveland.com.
The Hilliard Road project is laid out in county plans as a multiyear rebuild expected to start in 2028 and would close the bridge entirely for about three years. Even as the rules shift, officials said they will keep posting a 24 month forecast of upcoming contracts so firms can see what is in the pipeline.
What The County Can Still Do
Officials emphasized that DOT's DBE changes touch only federal funding. They do not stop Cuyahoga County from running equity programs paid for with local dollars, or from using small business goals built around economic disadvantage instead of race or sex. Several state transportation departments have already said they do not apply DBE goals to projects that rely entirely on state funds, and some jurisdictions are testing out alternative small business enterprise targets in the meantime, according to industry coverage of state responses via the Pennsylvania constructors' trade group.
County staff said they plan to keep up outreach to small firms, use local funding where possible to maintain access to work, and rely on those 24 month forecasts to give contractors more visibility. For now, though, federal procurements covered by DOT funds will move forward without the race or gender based targets that used to be attached.
A Recent Test: An EPA Grant Freeze
The stakes of getting crosswise with Washington became clear when federal officials briefly froze, then released, a $129 million Environmental Protection Agency grant for climate and solar projects in northeast Ohio that Cuyahoga County is administering. The pause showed how quickly a federal policy move can stall local work, per Spectrum News 1 and the EPA's announcement.
Local leaders warned that even a short interruption could throw off hiring, training, and contracting plans tied to that money. The episode is a big part of why county officials say they feel pressed to follow the new guidance while they search for ways to keep small and disadvantaged firms from falling out of the project pipeline.
What Contractors Should Know
The DOT rule requires Unified Certification Programs to reevaluate firms and has prompted many recipients to stop setting DBE goals on federal jobs until that process is finished, a shift that industry groups say could squeeze opportunities for minority and women owned businesses and complicate bidding on large infrastructure work, according to the Mechanical Contractors Association's government affairs update.
Contractors and subcontractors are being urged to watch for recertification notices from their UCP and to keep an eye on county bid postings and those 24 month forecasts so they can plan capacity and teaming early. County leaders say they will keep talking with firms and trade groups as the rules shake out.
For now, the county is trying to walk a narrow line between staying legally compliant and keeping small and disadvantaged businesses in the game. Contractors, advocacy groups, and local officials are all waiting to see whether recertification timelines, new federal guidance, or court rulings will eventually bring back the old goal structure or reshape how equity fits into public contracting altogether.
