Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization

The Department of Transportation Immediate Office of the Secretary Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization is a civilian sub-agency within the Department of Transportation that administers grant funding to support small and disadvantaged business development and outreach initiatives aligned with DOT's contracting mission.

The office has awarded 44 federal grants totaling $26.3 million since 2011 to 18 distinct recipients. All grants are structured as Cooperative Agreements. Recent award activity shows volatility: 6 awards in 2020, 2 in 2021, 1 in 2022, 8 in 2023, and 1 in 2024, with the most recent award closed in February 2024. Over the last five years, grant recipients are highly fragmented — the top five recipients by award count hold 50 percent of recent awards, each receiving a single grant, while the top five by federal dollars obligated account for only 12 percent of recent federal dollars. The Enterprise Center received the largest single grant at $885 thousand, followed by Hoya Foundation at $544 thousand, National Institute Of Minority Economic Development at $538 thousand, The Mexican American Chamber Of Commerce Of Illinois, Inc. at $534 thousand, and Research Foundation Of The City University Of New York at $526 thousand. The remaining 13 recipients account for the majority of the portfolio across a dispersed base of small business development organizations, chambers of commerce, and nonprofit community-focused entities. No recent grant opportunities are recorded against the office.