The Bill That Could Strip $2.2 Billion From the Twin Cities' Women-Owned Businesses
In this op-ed, MaKee Company CEO R. Lynn Pingol breaks down S.4390, a bill in Congress that would repeal the statutory authority behind the Women-Owned Small Business federal contracting program. Pingol argues the bill would trigger a 20% contraction in women-owned business revenue nationally, disproportionately hurting Black women-owned firms, and estimates the Twin Cities alone stands to lose more than $2.2 billion and over 20,000 jobs if the program's federal contracting protections disappear.
Congress is considering a bill that would quietly dismantle one of the most important economic ladders available to women-owned businesses in America.
It’s called S.4390, a bill to repeal Section 8(m) of the Small Business Act, which relates to the Women-Owned Small Business Program.
If it passes, it will eliminate the Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) program and the federal authority that allows agencies to create contracting opportunities for women-owned firms.
That authority lives in Section 637(m) of the Small Business Act and without it, women-owned businesses lose the only statutory protection they have in federal procurement.
Let’s be clear: this is not a procedural tweak. It is a structural extraction of contracting power from women-owned firms, especially Black women-owned firms, who already face the steepest barriers to capital, bonding, and private-sector procurement.
According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, women-owned businesses generate $2.7 trillion in annual revenue and employ 12.2 million workers.
A conservative 20% contraction, the level economists expect when federal access collapses, places $540 billion in annual revenue and 2.44 million jobs at risk. Those losses will not be evenly distributed. BIPOC women-owned firms rely more heavily on federal contracting because private markets have never treated them fairly.
Here in Minnesota, the stakes are even clearer.
According to state economic data, women-owned firms in Minneapolis generate $6.5 to $7.5 billion annually, and women-owned firms in St. Paul generate $4.5 to $5.5 billion.
A 20% contraction, the same modeling used nationally means, Minneapolis loses $1.3–$1.5 billion, Saint Paul loses $900 million–$1.1 billion and together, that’s more than $2.2 billion ripped out of the Twin Cities’ small-business economy, which is more than 20,000 local jobs erased.
Eliminating WOSB authority doesn’t create neutrality. It creates consolidation. It hands more federal dollars to the same billion-dollar primes that already dominate the marketplace. It removes the only mechanism that allows women-owned firms to compete at all.
And the timing could not be worse.
Federal equity infrastructure is already under attack. The OMB Merit-Based Contracting Rule restricts DEI-informed procurement tools. The DOT DBE rollback weakens transportation equity protections. The SBA 8(a) slowdown has stalled entry pathways for disadvantaged firms.
S.4390 is the fourth strike, the one that completes the collapse.
If you want to understand who gets hurt, look at the numbers.
Federal data from the U.S. Census Annual Business Survey and the Wells Fargo 2024 Women-Owned Business Report show that Black women-owned firms generate roughly $250 billion in annual revenue and support 1.2 million jobs nationwide. A 20% contraction, the level economists expect when federal contracting access collapses. translates into $50 billion in lost revenue and 240,000 jobs erased.
SBA and NWBC research further indicate that Latina-owned firms would lose roughly $70 billion, Asian American women-owned firms would lose $60 billion, and Native/Indigenous women-owned firms would lose $8 billion.
White women-owned firms the largest share of employer women-owned businesses face losses exceeding $350 billion.
These figures represent not just business contraction, but a direct hit to corridor vitality, municipal tax bases, and national economic stability. These are not abstract figures. They represent real storefronts, real families, real workers, and real communities.
And the harm doesn’t stop at the business level. It spreads.
When women-owned firms lose revenue, corridors decline. Storefronts go dark. Foot traffic drops. Property values soften. Safety concerns rise. When corridors decline, cities lose revenue. Sales tax, payroll tax, and commercial property tax all shrink. When cities lose revenue, public services weaken. Schools, transit, public safety, and infrastructure all take the hit.
This is how a federal policy becomes a neighborhood crisis. This is how a bill passed in Washington becomes a vacancy on Lake Street, a closure on University Avenue, a lost apprenticeship in Detroit, a stalled infrastructure project in Houston, a weakened supply chain in Newark, and a shuttered childcare center in Los Angeles.
This is how economic mobility disappears.
Federal contracting has long been one of the most reliable ladders into the middle class for Black women entrepreneurs. It is one of the few places where performance can outweigh pedigree, where capability can outweigh connections, and where small firms can compete on something closer to equal footing.S.4390 kicks that ladder away.
It tells Black women-owned firms and every woman-owned firm in America that their participation is optional, their access is expendable, and their economic contribution is negotiable.
It is not.
Women-owned businesses are not peripheral. They are foundational. They are the backbone of corridor vitality, municipal stability, and national competitiveness. They employ millions, circulate revenue locally, and stabilize communities during downturns. They are engines of innovation, anchors of neighborhood identity, and drivers of economic mobility.
Eliminating their federal contracting authority is not just bad policy, it’s economic malpractice.
Congress must reject S.4390. Cities must oppose it. States must oppose it. Business communities must oppose it. And every woman-owned business, especially every Black woman-owned business, must understand exactly what is at stake.
This is not a small bill. This is a $540 billion extraction. This is a 2.44 million job loss event. This is a national destabilization risk. And for Minneapolis and Saint Paul, this is a $2.2 billion blow to the very firms that keep our corridors alive.
And it is happening in plain sight.
References & Sources
Federal Statutes & Regulations
• Small Business Act, Section 8(m) — Statutory authority for the Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) Program.
• 15 U.S.C. § 637(m) — Women-Owned Small Business contracting authority. • 13 C.F.R. Part 127 — WOSB Program regulations.
• 13 C.F.R. Part 124 — SBA 8(a) Business Development Program.
• 49 C.F.R. Part 26 — DOT Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) Program. • Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 19.15 — WOSB set-aside and sole-source rules. Federal Reports & Data
• U.S. Census Bureau, Annual Business Survey (ABS), 2023 — National employer data for women-owned firms.
• Wells Fargo Women-Owned Business Report, 2024 — National revenue, employment, and growth metrics.
• SBA FY2023 Procurement Scorecard — Federal contracting distribution by business category.
• USAspending.gov (FY2023) — Federal contracting obligations by geography and business type.
• GAO Procurement Equity Reviews (2023–2025) — Contracting disparities and program performance.
• National Women’s Business Council (NWBC), 2024–2025 — Women-owned business trends and barriers.
Executive & Administrative Actions
• OMB Merit-Based Contracting Proposed Rule (2026) — Restrictions on DEI-informed procurement tools.
• DOT DBE Interim Final Rule (2024) — Adjustments to DBE enforcement and airport goal-setting.
• SBA 8(a) Program Administrative Guidance (2023–2025) — Certification delays following legal challenges.
Academic & Economic Sources
• Brookings Institution, Small Business & Urban Economic Stability Reports (2023– 2025) — Impacts of small-business revenue shocks.
• Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, Small Business Capital Access Studies (2023–2025) — Local economic multipliers and vulnerability modeling.
• Federal Reserve System, Small Business Credit Survey (2024) — Capital access disparities for women-owned and minority-owned firms.
Regional Economic Data (Minneapolis & Saint Paul)
• Minneapolis CPED, Small Business & Corridor Recovery Reports (2024–2025) — Revenue and employment estimates for women-owned firms.
• Saint Paul Department of Planning & Economic Development (PED), 2024–2025 — Corridor vitality and small-business revenue data.
• Minnesota DEED, Small Business Economic Profiles (2024–2025) — Statewide women-owned business performance.
Disparity Studies & Procurement Analyses
• DOT National DBE Reporting (FY2023–FY2024) — Race and gender distribution of DBE awards.
• State and Regional Disparity Studies (2019–2025) — Contracting disparities across transportation, infrastructure, and professional services.
• SBA Office of Advocacy, Small Business Economic Profiles (2023–2025) — National and regional small-business performance metrics.
