Fort Worth’s Small Business Development Program is building momentum

Fort Worth's Small Business Development Program is building momentum

Published on April 08, 2026

City Council recently received an update on Fort Worth's Small Business Development Program (SBDP), which was stood up last summer in response to changes made to the City's small business ordinance.

In the months since its establishment, the Economic Development Department's small business division has been working with other City departments and external partners to develop a framework for the program, which is focused on addressing the unique challenges faced by small businesses and providing resources to support their long-term success.

"We've kind of themed these first few months as capacity-building and foundational elements for the SBDP, putting a lot of things in place to bring awareness to the program and get businesses prepared for entering into City contracts," said Jessica Rogers, director of economic development for the City.

The City of Fort Worth is working to promote the Small Business Development Program through a new webpage and by promoting upcoming classes and initiatives through its social media channels - including the Devoyd Jennings Business Assistance Center (BAC) Facebook and LinkedIn pages and through the monthly Small Business e-newsletter.

The City has also seen success with its six-month pilot program through the North Central Texas Regional Certification Agency (NCTRCA) to support the accelerated review of Small Business Enterprise (SBE) certification applications, with NCTRCA reporting that 85 expedited certifications have been approved so far.

However, the most critical piece of this program has been the City's partnership with the three local chambers - the Fort Worth Metropolitan Black Chamber of Commerce, the Fort Worth Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce - who have been collectively working to develop small business programs to support this effort, increase access to business resources, create platforms for networking and mentorship and assist small businesses in navigating the City's procurement system.

Recent highlights from each of the chambers:

Fort Worth Metropolitan Black Chamber of Commerce (FWMBCC)

• The FWMBCC is working to provide business development resources, construction support, outreach, education and procurement connections around the following four goals:
  • Educating and supporting bonding and insurance provider relationships
  • Educating and supporting access to capital for business needs
  • Developing a workforce development plan with local partners
  • Encouraging Small Business Enterprise (SBE), Texas Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) and other certifications for special program access and resources.
• Additionally, the FWMBCC has developed a series of workshops in partnership with Frost Bank to increase readiness for bonding and insurance services to all its members and has another bonding and insurance roundtable meeting scheduled over the summer.
• FWMBCC has also teamed up with Tarrant County College and Workforce Solutions to create and implement a Workforce Grants/Skills Program to connect small businesses and employees to job skills training. They also partner with the City on quarterly workshops with the NCTRCA in both English and Spanish designed to raise awareness about the benefits of obtaining a Small Business Enterprise (SBE) certification.

  Fort Worth Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (FWHCC)

• The FWHCC is focused on providing capacity-building services, including business development, construction assistance, outreach, supply-chain education and procurement connections. Their work is centered around the goals of delivering supply-chain network education and experience support and matching local small businesses to City contracting and procurement opportunities.
• To date, the FWHCC has doubled its supply-chain education goal by assisting more than 60 businesses in this space. FWHCC has also supported more than 30 businesses with logistics and inventory management and has successfully connected small businesses to City bid opportunities, with one contract awarded and 37 in the pipeline.
• Additionally, the FWHCC has developed a campaign to launch its Preferred Supplier Assessment Form to help identify local supply-chain vendors and has introduced a Procurement Readiness Index to clearly understand what resources contractors need to be prepared to bid on City projects.

  Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce (FWC)

• The FWC's support is centered around the goals of cultivating relationships between prime, sub and other vendors; amplifying outreach and communications for small business contracting and procurement opportunities; and retaining established small businesses in the Fort Worth market.
• To date, the FWC is working to create targeted communications lists related to specific bid opportunities, along with a webpage where vendors can subscribe to procurement opportunities by NAICS code.
• The FWC has reported more than a dozen prime-to-sub introductions so far and has created a taskforce to assist vendors with potential networking opportunities. They are also working to cross-promote related workshops and SBDP-related events held by the FWMBCC and the FWHCC.

When the mandate for this program was issued last summer, "we were in uncharted water - that is, no one has really done this before under this mandate," noted Michelle Green-Ford, president and CEO of the Fort Worth Metropolitan Black Chamber of Commerce.

"And I'm happy to say that the last six months have been incredible. Lot of learning curve, but the pieces are in place for us to be extremely successful."

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