“We will still be able to give the funding or support to these technically minority businesses in another facet,” Councilman Chris Nettles said.
FORT WORTH, Texas — Fort Worth city leaders are now under a deadline to create a new small business support program after learning that continuing the current Diversity & Inclusion Department could put more than $277 million in federal funding at risk.
The City Council voted to delay a decision on suspending the department after Councilman Chris Nettles made a motion to push the vote to August 5. The proposed resolution would dissolve the city’s Business Equity Ordinance and eliminate economic incentives aimed at supporting minority and women-owned businesses.
City leaders knew as early as last May that Federal guidance issued prompted the city to consider suspending programs that specifically address racial, ethnic, or gender disparities, as outlined in Fort Worth’s city code.
Several community and business leaders, including representatives from the Fort Worth Black and Hispanic Chambers of Commerce, voiced concerns during Tuesday’s council meeting. While some council members pushed to take immediate action, a majority, including Mayor Mattie Parker, supported the delay to give the city time to come up with a replacement program.
“I’m looking for a plan that if we’re going to dismount DEI, which would take away our ability to support the Black Chamber as it exists and the Hispanic Chamber as it exists… we will still be able to give the funding or support to these technically minority businesses in another facet,” said Councilman Nettles.
Katrina Rischer-Carpenter addresses the city council during public comment at Tuesday’s meeting. She operates a business called Carpenter’s Cafe and Catering, located in the Near Southside neighborhood of Fort Worth, Texas, where she is both the co-founder and executive chef.
Carpenter’s Cafe offers a variety of food services, including catering, cafe dining, and a food truck out of their location at 1116 Pennsylvania Avenue in Fort Worth. She opened in 2020.
Katrina has also been involved in collaborations with other local entrepreneurs and has been recognized as an important figure in the Fort Worth food community. She shared how eliminating the city’s DEI Program that helps business owners like herself would hurt future business owners.
Mayor Mattie Parker said, “We are fully committed to working with our chambers to get this right, and hopefully… we get to a program that’s actually more robust, that creates more protections for small businesses.”
Parker said City Manager Jay Chapa and his staff now have the difficult task of drafting a new small business initiative in time for the next city budget cycle and before the August vote.
Parker also stressed that, being the 11th largest city in the country and growing rapidly, Fort Worth cannot afford to lose federal funds for things like interstate transportation, which adds up to the tune of millions, not just in the immediate future but in decades to come.
“Take the transportation grants alone. You can’t be the fastest growing city in the country,” said Mayor Parker, “and we are growing over a million people with all the transportation needs and not health care, because it’s participation from D.O.T.”