Denver proposes broader small-business contracting rules as equity ordinance nears expiration

Denver is proposing to rewrite its small-business and minority- and women-owned business contracting rules, broadening some certification pathways while adding race- and gender-neutral tools to direct public-contracting opportunities to small firms.

Council Bill 26-1216 would reorganize the Division of Small Business Opportunity’s authority and programs across three sections of the Denver Revised Municipal Code. It remains a proposal: the bill’s official Legistar record lists it as a committee action item with no recorded history or final action.

The city’s current Equity in Contracting Ordinance expires Oct. 31, 2026. If adopted, the replacement would take effect Nov. 1 for solicitations advertised on or after that date and remain in place through Oct. 31, 2032, the ordinance request says.

Who could qualify

The proposal would remove the current six-month business-operating requirement, according to a DSBO presentation outlining the rewrite. Applicants would still have to be for-profit businesses operating when they apply, registered and in good standing with the Colorado secretary of state, and meet requirements for ownership, control, independence, size and economic and social disadvantage.

The proposal would retain a requirement that at least 51% of a business be owned by eligible disadvantaged owners. It would allow some indirect ownership arrangements — including through a parent company, subsidiary or employee stock ownership plan — to qualify case by case if other requirements are met.

The bill also would add Middle Eastern and North African, or MENA, individuals to the groups presumed to have experienced social disadvantage. People outside the listed groups could seek certification through an individualized process requiring a narrative describing a distinguishing characteristic, specific experiences of discrimination or systemic barriers, and the effect on their ability to start or operate a business in Denver’s marketplace.

The bill would redefine economic disadvantage as a reduced ability to compete because of limited access to capital and credit, rather than defining it solely through a personal-net-worth limit. Personal net worth would remain part of the eligibility calculation, but the proposed ordinance does not state the new cap; DSBO would establish it.

Those changes could allow newer businesses and some firms with nontraditional ownership structures to seek certification sooner or qualify where they could not under current rules. Eligibility would still depend on individual ownership, control and operational involvement.

New tools for public contracts

The proposal would authorize race- and gender-neutral small-business enterprise, or SBE, participation goals. DSBO could set a percentage goal based on a contract’s scope and the availability of certified small businesses, or waive the goal when appropriate.

It also would preserve the city’s ability to use “defined-pool” solicitations limited to certified SBEs. DSBO could waive that restriction when it determines doing so is in the city’s best interest.

The proposal would retain minority- and women-owned business enterprise, or MWBE, goals as contract-specific requirements based on availability. The bill says those goals would not be quotas, set-asides, sheltered markets or bid preferences. Contractors unable to meet a goal could avoid denial of a contract by documenting good-faith efforts, as required by the proposal.

On covered contracts, prime contractors generally could not terminate, substitute or reduce a certified subcontractor’s work without prior DSBO approval. Certified subcontractors would be entitled to payment within 35 days of an undisputed invoice, regardless of whether the prime contractor had been paid. The protections would apply even when the subcontractor’s participation was not needed to meet a contract goal.

Contractors also would face additional compliance duties. Participation would count only when a certified business performs a commercially useful function; conduit or pass-through participation would not count. Violations could result in withheld payments, penalties, suspension or termination, decertification, corrective action or referral for debarment.

Concessions at city venues

The proposal would expand the definition of Small Business Enterprise Concessions, or SBECs, beyond businesses operating concessions themselves. It would include certified small businesses supplying goods or services to concessionaires or directly to the public within a concession environment on city property.

DSBO’s presentation describes SBEC goals as a new race- and gender-neutral tool and says the rewrite would clarify authority to set concession requirements at parks and other city venues, in addition to Denver International Airport. The bill leaves detailed SBEC goal calculations, eligibility rules and venue-selection procedures largely to administrative rules and contract-specific decisions.

The practical reach of the changes will depend on rules that have not yet been published and on which contracts DSBO chooses to cover.

Study and public process

The rewrite follows Denver’s 2025 Availability and Disparity Study, which examined city and airport contracting from 2016 through 2023. The study’s summary report estimated that minority- and women-owned businesses might be expected to receive about 37% of city contract dollars based on availability, compared with actual utilization of about 21%.

The study found that city equity programs reduced or eliminated disparities for some groups, but substantial disparities remained, particularly on contracts without city contract-equity requirements. It also identified barriers involving access to capital, credit and business networks.

The city’s study FAQ says researchers used surveys, interviews and other outreach involving more than 475 business owners, trade-association representatives and other interested people. The DSBO presentation says the city also held three in-person community task-force sessions on April 27, May 18 and July 13 to review survey findings, draft language and recommendations.

The available record does not include the full public-engagement survey results, task-force minutes or a final recommendation memo.

What happens next

The official Finance and Business Committee agenda schedules Bill 26-1216 for briefing, 15 minutes of public comment and discussion/action on Aug. 25, 2026. As of Aug. 22, no committee or City Council vote, amendment or final approval had been recorded.

The DSBO presentation lists Sept. 14 for a first reading and Sept. 21 for a second and final reading, but those dates were not confirmed in the official Legistar records reviewed for this report. The proposal should not be described as adopted or as having a fixed final-vote schedule.