Airport Experience® News - ACDBE Issue 2026

PROGRAM PAUSE As Recertification Progress Continues, The ACDBE Program Is In A Holding Pattern

BY CAROL WARD

Editor’s Note: In October 2025, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) issued an Interim Final Rule (IFR) that changed the playing field for both DBEs (Disadvantaged Business Enterprises) and ACDBEs (Airport Concession Disadvantaged Business Enterprises). All previously certified firms are required to undergo mandatory re-evaluation to prove individualized social and economic disadvantage, a process that is ongoing. During the transition, airports cannot set ACDBE or DBE contract goals until the re-evaluation process is complete. Eboni Wimbush, president and CEO of the Airport Minority Advisory Council (AMAC), sat down with Carol Ward of AXN to discuss the current landscape and what the industry can expect in the future.

WARD: Can you share an update on the current state of play for the ACDBE program? What has held steady and what’s in flux? WIMBUSH: The ACDBE program is still in effect structurally, but operationally it is in a period of significant transition. What has held steady is the core purpose of the program – ensuring small, disadvantaged businesses have access to airport concession opportunities. The regulatory framework under 49 CFR Part 23 remains in place, and airports are still required to administer compliant programs. What’s in flux is how eligibility is determined and how participation is measured. The October 2025 Interim Final Rule (IFR) fundamentally changed the program by eliminating race- and gender-based presumptions of disadvantage, requiring individualized proof of social and economic disadvantage for every firm and mandating a nationwide reevaluation of all certified firms. While that is happening, the program is on pause, meaning until a state and the UCPs [unified certification programs] have certified all firms, there’s a zero goal in place. The program is effectively being rebuilt in real time. Certification, goal setting, and compliance are all temporarily disrupted while this transition plays out.

WARD: Is the program currently active at any airport (i.e., has the recertification process been completed in any states)? WIMBUSH: Technically, yes – the program has not been suspended or eliminated. However, in practice, activity is constrained. Because every ACDBE firm has to be reevaluated, this is a significant undertaking. We don’t know of any recognized jurisdiction that is back to goal setting (as of AXN’s press time). Because the IFR requires every ACDBE firm to be reevaluated, most UCPs are still working through that process. We knew – and the administration flagged – that there was going to be a significant administrative burden. They’re not just focused on ACDBEs, it’s DBEs too. In the state of Maryland, for example, there are over 10,000 DBEs and ACDBEs. The program can’t restart until all of the recertifications are complete for both ACDBEs and DBEs. Until that is complete, there are effectively no “recognized” certified firms under the new rule in many jurisdictions, and airports cannot count participation toward ACDBE goals. At this stage, there is limited evidence that full recertification has been completed at scale in any state, meaning the program is operational in name but largely paused in execution.

Above: Eboni Wimbush, president & CEO, Airport Minority Advisory Council

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AX NEWS JUNE 2026