ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Orange County suspended its Minority and Women Businesses Enterprise Program to comply with executive orders from President Donald Trump related to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

What You Need To Know The goal is to get at least 15% of all county contracts to be awarded to small businesses in the program

Before the program gets up and running the county wants feedback from business owners

You can also submit your feedback online anytime, until August 1

County leaders will take the feedback to write up guidelines and then it will need to be approved by Orange County commissioners

There were about $100 million in federal funds that were in jeopardy if the county did not comply with the order.

Now, Orange County wants to launch a similar program that is more inclusive. County leaders didn’t want to forget about small businesses, so they are starting over with a new Small Business Enterprise Program.

Behind the camera, Karen Kurta is in control.

“I work with small businesses, larger businesses doing headshots, branding, corporate events, I even do architectural photography for commercial properties,” Kurta said.

She’s the owner of Karen K Photo.

Other things beyond the lens are sometimes out of her control. “The hard part about it right now, we are in limbo,” Kurta said.

Kurta was in the process of applying for the Orange County Minority and Women Businesses Enterprise Program when it was suspended.

“That program was very essential for a lot of businesses to compete in the marketplace,” Kurta said.

As the president of the National Association of Women Business Owners in Orlando, she knows the importance of the program and has been involved with the process to launch the new Small Business Enterprise Program.

“My point to them was, and they were already aware, that there was going to need to be tiers of some sort, smaller businesses, microbusinesses can’t compete with large businesses that are doing $2 million in revenue,” Kurta said.

Input is an important next step in initiating the program.

“We want the feedback,” said Sheena Furguson, the Orange County Business Development Division Manager.

All ideas are welcome as they try to determine the rules and regulations.

“The SBE is a race-neutral program, which means that any business will be able to participate, any small business,” Furguson said.

The goal is to get at least 15% of all county contracts to be awarded to small businesses in the program.

“We were very concerned about us getting left out altogether of this program, so Orange County has been very receptive about input, they have responded to our concerns, and they are actively working to make sure it is fair for everybody,” Kurta said.

There is no timeline for when the program will launch. County leaders will take the feedback to write up guidelines, and then it will need to be approved by Orange County commissioners.

Any small business owners that want to share feedback, there are virtual sessions Monday through Friday to learn more. You can also submit your feedback online anytime until August 1. Even though it is in Orange County, it is open to small businesses in Orange, Seminole, Lake and Osceola counties.