Atlanta’s business community is standing behind Mayor Andre Dickens after he decided to turn down tens of millions of dollars in federal airport funding rather than abandon the city’s diversity and inclusion programs, according to Bloomberg. The move has intensified a growing national dispute between city governments and the current administration over equity-based contracting policies.

Katie Kirkpatrick, president of the Metro Atlanta Chamber, said the city must protect the initiatives that opened doors for minority-owned companies at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, even if it means losing federal aid.  

“It’s the DNA of who we are,” she said during a Bloomberg interview. “It doesn’t change based on the policies or the perspectives at the federal level. Changing that, I think, would be inauthentic for our city.”

The Federal Aviation Administration recently froze $57 million intended for airport upgrades after Atlanta refused to remove diversity, equity, and inclusion requirements from its contracts. About $19 million might be reinstated next year if the city accepts revised terms, but local leaders have indicated that won’t happen.

Hartsfield-Jackson, which the city owns, has long been tied to Atlanta’s identity as a hub for minority contractors and entrepreneurs. “No city has done more to nurture Black entrepreneurship,” Dickens said Tuesday. He added that Atlanta will find other ways to replace the lost funds.

“We are confident that the airport will be able to pursue alternative funding to advance these projects without impacting customers or airport service providers,” Dickens said.

Kirkpatrick and other business leaders said they fully support the mayor’s decision. “That is going to be a challenge to every local government going forward,” she said, noting that cities nationwide are now adjusting to shifting federal funding priorities, and “there will be some changes.”