St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer announced last week that the city has paused its certification programs for women- and minority-owned businesses “to assess next steps.” She also said city departments will not issue “any new non-emergency contracts” for construction projects that fall under the city’s Minority and/or Women-owned Business Enterprise (M/WBE) goals.

City officials have already halted the certification of new businesses under the current program, shifting instead toward what some have quietly called a “race-neutral” small business approach. While acknowledging that the city’s MWBE ordinance may need to be updated “to reflect the latest disparity study,” Board of Aldermen President Megan Green said it should not be replaced “with a race- and gender-neutral program.”

“It’s an abdi

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