Airport Experience® News - ACDBE Issue 2026

non-members took advantage of these early and continuing actions. WARD: Beyond the “elephant in the room” issue of the ongoing relevance of the overall program, what other issues are top of mind for your members? WIMBUSH: Even though the DBE and ACDBE regulations are important topics we advocate for and educate on, AMAC has always been about the business of increasing the capacity of our small, diverse business base. This means that we continue to focus on all of the other issues that our business partners, airports, and

WIMBUSH: Our businesses are businesses first; and small, diverse businesses second. Continuing to showcase their talent, their depth, and their contributions is paramount. This is overwhelmingly supported by our airport and other transportation agency partners, and our primes. Small businesses are the backbone of our economy, and we hear from airport partners over and over again how important and cost-effective it is to support businesses that prioritize the airport and their community. Our plan B is still our plan A – support, educate, and advocate for the strengths that these businesses bring to our communities and our economies.

stakeholders care about. These include focusing on business-focused topics such as external costs, supply chain, and workforce impacts, lending, networking, and leveling the competitive playing field. None of these efforts stopped when the DBE/ACDBE regulations changed, and we will continue to focus on them.

WARD: Given the program’s current stress, how is AMAC planning for the future? What are some of the “plan B” options your organization is exploring to ensure ongoing minority access to airport concession contracts? RECERTIFICATION CHALLENGES New Processes, New Requirements, Have Small Businesses Scrambling BY CAROL WARD

The ACDBE program is going through perhaps its most significant transition since it was first launched in 1987. For ACDBE companies, the new processes haven’t been easy. “The major change is the shift toward individualized review and narrative-based documentation tied to social and economic disadvantage,” says Kimberly Griffin, CEO of DBE Consulting LLC. “Firms can no longer rely solely on presumed status. Owners are now being asked to provide detailed personal narratives along with updated financial documentation and supporting information.” Providing that level of detail can be time consuming, challenging if the party hasn’t kept documentation, and emotionally exhausting, Griffin says. “The biggest challenge for many business owners is understanding what should actually be included in the narrative,” she says. “The agencies are looking for more than general statements about discrimination. They want owners to clearly explain specific barriers they experienced personally and professionally.” Those barriers could be in accessing capital and financing, bonding or banking challenges, exclusion from opportunities or networks, industry discrimination, delayed growth due to barriers, contracting and procurement challenges or something else. Griffin says she and her clients are “not excited about doing this.” “We’re giving up a lot of personal information that for some reason, other people don’t have to give up,” she says. “Some people don’t want to give that information and I don’t blame them. I felt I had to … but I was leery of telling my story. It’s a personal story, and I don’t know what’s

going to become of that story. I don’t know if the federal government is going to now have our file. There’s a lot of unknowns and a lot of people are not comfortable with it.” Tyrone Nabbie, president of Superior Hospitality Group , a Florida based firm that has operated as an ACDBE at multiple airport locations, says the recertification process was arduous. “It was mentally exhausting trying to remember past and failed opportunities that you had tried to forget over the years,” he says. “Fortunately, I had a close business consultant that helped me think through and organize my thoughts to write a successful personal narrative. I have received my approved re-evaluation as an ACDBE.” But Nabbie says that for some of his colleagues, the process has not been as favorable. “Just like me, they are small firms wearing a lot of hats, trying to keep the business viable,” he says. “It has been devastating under the new rule, that our bank accounts can’t speak for Above: Existing airport contracts for ACDBE concessions, like this Superior Hospitality Group-operated Desano Pizza Bakery at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, are continuing, but experts say some new opportunities have been delayed as airports wait for further clarity on the program going forward.

Left: Tyrone Nabbie, president of Superior Hospitality Group calls the recertification process “mentally exhausting” and says the need for proof of being disadvantaged has been devastating for some.

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AX NEWS JUNE 2026