Push to ‘Level the Playing Field’ Threatens Minority-Owned Firms

Vicki Volponi, who sells construction supplies near Charleston, South Carolina, was in a good groove for most of last year. She was on track to book nearly $10 million in sales for the second year in a row and, with a new warehouse in Ohio and more heavy machinery, was expanding her business into new territory. Then, in October, the federal framework she relied on for the bulk of her business — known as the DBE program — came to a screeching halt.

“It’s like having a table and they kick the legs out from under you,” she said. Contracts worth ...