Houston METRO Expands Efforts to Support Business Owners

Houston METRO’s board voted to create two programs to ensure equal access and opportunity for veterans and people living with a disability seeking to do business with the authority.

The Veteran Owned Business Enterprise (VOBE) and the Disability Owned Business Enterprise (DOBE) programs will be run by the Office of Economic Business Opportunity, formerly known as the Office of Small Business.

The programs will allow the office to identify and target the businesses more effectively, implement more inclusive practices, and assist in providing a full and fair opportunity to compete for procurement opportunities with METRO.

"This is a step in the right direction to benefit many business owners in their reach," said Board Chair Sanjay Ramabhadran

The Office of Economic Business Opportunity also operates the Small/Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (SB/DBE) programs with an annual goal of 35% small business participation.

"This is a very important program that we have been looking at for some time," said Board Member Lex Frieden. "I want to applaud METRO's staff for putting together a great plan for a program that will benefit our community."