MONROE, La. (KNOE) – The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development says new changes are being made to their Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) Program.

LA DOTD is moving to one overall statewide goal for the year instead of a goal per project.

“And so this is going to mean going to a race neutral program that the prime contractors will have less paperwork,” LA DOTD Compliance Director, Paula Roddy said. “We’re following the Florida model and the Florida pretty much they’ve been doing it for 20 years and they actually meet and exceed their goal every year. So, that’s what we want to try to do.”

Roddy says that this comes as dozens of projects in Northeast Louisiana are about to begin.

“So when I ran the numbers for this district, we’re in District 5, Monroe, so several parishes you guys have anywhere from in the next 6 months, about $20 million to about $75 million worth of projects that are going to be put out for bid just for this region,” Roddy said. “So, that’s a significant amount of money.”

Local Contractor Tiffany Bintz says it will not only make her job easier, but will help other businesses like hers to have better opportunities.

“Making it let less burdensome, perhaps, for the prime contractors to meet the goals that the state is going to put in place to make sure that businesses that are small or minority owned receive monies from the state,” Bintz said.

Copyright 2025 KNOE. All rights reserved.