Rewriting the Rules: Overcoming Bureaucratic Barriers for Minority-Owned Firms in 2025
Harold T. Epps, Senior Advisor
Interviewed by Julie Platt
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Harold: During my four years as Commerce Director, I oversaw the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO), which gave me a front-row seat to the good, the bad, and the ugly: issues of accountability, compliance, oversight, and even fraud. As a Black man who’s felt the sting of injustice and segregation, I brought that perspective to the role every day. Now, in my five years at Bellevue Strategies, I still believe we have to be proactive and intentional if we want to close the wealth gap, cut poverty, create jobs, and truly strengthen our economy.
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Harold: The U.S. is steeped in bureaucracy—especially in procurement—which tends to preserve the status quo and disadvantage diverse firms. Anyone who denies that isn’t being honest about how this country operates. We face institutional, generational, and intentional barriers limiting opportunities for minority, women-owned, or veteran-owned businesses.
By 2025, we’ve made more progress at the city level, but at the state and federal levels, outdated small-business definitions—covering revenue, employee counts, and even net worth—were set decades ago and never adjusted for inflation. Like a stagnant minimum wage, these obsolete caps hold diverse businesses back, and the few incremental updates haven’t kept pace with today’s economic realities.
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Harold: To quote Maya Angelou, “If they show you who they are, believe them.” Historically, people of color—whether individuals or businesses—have fared better under Democratic leadership. Under Trump, there was no real intentionality around addressing issues faced by Black and brown businesses. Wealthy businesses might have benefited from tax cuts, but small and mid-sized firms saw little support. Policy-wise, I can't recall any benefit from his first term.
Now, with Project 2025 and the rise of anti-woke rhetoric, I’m worried that some existing supports will be attacked or eliminated, and institutions like higher ed could face serious backlash. That’s where my biggest concern lies—this counter-retrenchment could undo even the modest progress we’ve made.
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Harold: We’re seeing DE&I principles come under attack. Freshman classes at certain universities—like UCLA in Texas—are less diverse, and major companies like Walmart have scaled back their DE&I commitments after being challenged. This shift hurts diverse businesses of all sizes, affecting jobs and local economies. The disparity is already a 10-to-1 gap.
America knows how to build from the top but struggles to lift from the bottom. Take minimum wage and public education as examples: if we were truly serious, we’d invest differently. From my vantage point, a $7-and-change federal minimum wage shows we don’t value employees enough—an indictment of how we treat those at the bottom.
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Harold: Despite all the obstacles, our client base—the public or private sector—must find ways to navigate the complexity. We hope they think highly of our partnership with them because our work benefits the greater Philadelphia economy. We have intentionally structured our customer and partner bases to focus on those we think are making a great case for how they add value to both the private and public sectors.
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Harold: Two things can be true: AI offers real opportunities—I know several tech-savvy people making strides in that space—but legacy companies need to adapt quickly or risk being left behind. Government faces the same challenge: we have too many vacant positions because we rely heavily on labor-driven systems. Shrinking workforces make it imperative for all levels of government to embrace more technology and AI.
Whether we like it or not, folks like Musk are trying to cut through the bureaucracy in Washington. We need a balanced approach, because they’re not entirely wrong, but we don’t want to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Just as computers transformed how we operate over the last few decades, AI will likely do the same.
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Harold: Size standards at the state and federal level define what qualifies as a small business—but they’re outdated. Diverse firms that outgrow those caps end up competing against multi-billion-dollar companies without much hope of winning. That’s why city, state, and federal entities are looking at a “middle market” program, and Bellevue Strategies is actively involved in shaping it for the Commonwealth. We’re fortunate to have a voice in deciding these new standards.
We also connect our clients with key leaders at major sourcing agencies—DGS, the Turnpike, PennDOT—and local agencies like SEPTA, the airport, the school district, and the city. Unlike state or federal levels, cities don’t have the same constraints, so we work alongside our clients to ensure decision-makers know who they are well before any contracts or opportunities arise. I like to say, “Work the R before you work the I”—build relationships before you tackle the issues. That’s precisely why we maintain a diverse portfolio at Bellevue: so our clients are known and not scrambling to establish credibility at the last minute.
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Harold: The very communities we want to discard are the ones that could most benefit from increased intentionality through government spending. If we want a more unified country, we will unify in that approach instead of using an anti-separatist approach that’s counterproductive for America. These programs don’t tear down America; they lift it. We can do better.
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Let me give you a state example: we fight for state support for SEPTA. Southeast Pennsylvania is the state's economic engine, and Philadelphia is the economic engine of the southeast region. In 2026, a million more people—many from around the world—will rely on public transit here, but decades of underinvestment mean we won’t be ready. The same story applies to our schools: they’re about 75–80 years old on average, while surrounding counties have much newer facilities. And that’s before you even factor in race-specific issues, which only make matters worse. Will we ever get serious, or will politics keep holding us back? I’m worried Trump could redirect infrastructure funds away from states and cities that didn’t vote for him.
We’ll see.
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Throughout his career, Harold T. Epps has built a solid reputation in both private and public sectors. Privately, he has focused on positioning organizations for sustained growth, successfully managing change. Publicly, Harold oversaw and implemented policies to help both small businesses and major corporations in Philadelphia thrive.
As a Senior Advisor for Economic Development at Bellevue, Harold continues this work with businesses of all sizes. Harold lends his expertise to clients through strategic positioning, access to capital and introductions to his vast network of key stakeholders. In addition, Harold is also serving as a Senior Advisor with the global search firm, Diversified Search, headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Harold previously served as the Director of Commerce at the City of Philadelphia for the duration of Mayor Kenney’s first term. As Director of Commerce, he helped to coordinate activities along neighborhood commercial corridors with small businesses and entrepreneurs, major real estate development projects, large-scale business attraction and retention efforts, as well as efforts to increase minority-owned business contracting opportunities.
Prior to joining the Department of Commerce, Harold was the Vice-Chair of the Board for PRWT Services and served as PRWT’s President and CEO from 2007 to 2014. PRWT Services is one of America’s largest minority-owned firms and a provider of high-performance business solutions, facilities management and infrastructure support services. Prior executive roles include Quadrant, Menasha Corporation, Polaroid and Digital Equipment Corporation, where Harold led middle-market subsidiaries and divisions.
Epps’ personal commitment to workforce development and business opportunity diversity and inclusion efforts continue to drive his civic and board activities. Harold serves on the board of many organizations, including the Community College of Philadelphia, Cobbs Creek Restoration and Community Foundation, Economy League of Greater Philadelphia, Public Health Management Corporation, World Affairs Council of Philadelphia, and Chair of First Step Staffing of Philadelphia. Harold previously served on the board of the Philadelphia Inquirer and executive committee member of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, the African-American Chamber of Commerce, The Urban League of Philadelphia, Comcast National African American Advisory Council and Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC). He was recently honored with the title of Trustee Emeritus at North Carolina Central University, his alma mater, where he served as a trustee for eight years.
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In this interview, Harold—former Commerce Director and current advocate at Bellevue Strategies—offers a front-line perspective on minority-owned businesses, DEI initiatives, and government contracting. Drawing from his experience overseeing the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO), he reveals how institutional barriers, outdated procurement policy frameworks, and underinvestment in public infrastructure perpetuate the wealth gap. Harold also addresses emerging trends in AI adoption and underscores the importance of relationship-building, proactive lobbying, and middle-market programs to ensure inclusive economic growth. By highlighting the need for stronger public-private partnerships, he shows how strategic reforms in Philadelphia—and beyond—can better support diverse businesses poised to expand and thrive.
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