Acting Texas Comptroller Kelly Hancock has announced the official expiration of all regional Memoranda of Agreements (MOAs) that were previously part of the Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) program. The move follows a 60-day termination notice issued in December, which is part of a broader restructuring that transitions the HUB program to the Veteran Heroes United in Business (VetHUB) initiative.
“Texas has ended DEI-based preferences in state contracting and replaced them with a program that is fair, focused and constitutional,” Hancock stated. “We eliminated race- and sex-based classifications, reduced layers of bureaucracy and placed responsibility for certification within one accountable office. Most importantly, we made service-disabled veterans the focus of this program.”
Previously, the Comptroller’s office relied on MOAs with various external organizations to certify businesses based on race, ethnicity, and sex criteria. Last fall, Hancock initiated changes to remove these classifications from eligibility requirements to align with constitutional equal-protection standards. Since then, all business certifications have been managed directly by the Comptroller’s agency.
Organizations affected by the expiration include several city governments and business councils such as the City of Austin, City of Houston, El Paso Chamber of Commerce, Houston Minority Supplier Development Council, South Central Texas Regional Certification Agency, Tri-County Regional Black Chamber of Commerce, Women’s Business Council Southwest, Golden Triangle Minority Business Council, Southwest Minority Supplier Development Council, and Dallas/Fort Worth Minority Supplier Development Council.
The VetHUB program now focuses exclusively on service-disabled veterans. When it was relaunched under this new structure, there were 547 businesses certified solely under service-disabled veteran status. That number has since grown to 1,075 active VetHUB-certified businesses—the highest count for service-disabled veteran participants since the inception of these programs.
The conclusion of regional MOAs completes efforts to simplify certification procedures by removing overlapping administrative processes and establishing a consistent statewide system managed entirely by the Comptroller’s office. For more information about VetHUB eligibility or certification status inquiries can be directed to VetHUBProgram@cpa.texas.gov.
