They are buying stakes in minority-owned firms, enabling them to profit from these set-aside programs too.

And, set-aside programs that once assured many minority firms of steady business often work against them - becoming more of a ceiling on future growth.

Past set-aside programs were plagued by scandals in which minority companies were actually fronts for white executives.

The ruling today is likely to be important beyond the context of challenges to set-aside programs.

In the current environment, he added, set-aside programs are still crucial to the survival of many minority-owned firms.

Boston and San Francisco, which have had set-aside programs for more than a decade, have recently beefed them up.

The entrepreneurs also said that they are prepared to detail a history of discriminatory acts against minority contractors if necessary to protect set-aside programs in Connecticut.

He used the tried and true demagoguery of class envy to sell his message: excessive taxpayers' money spent on welfare, school busing practices, affirmative action... and set-aside programs.

Over and over, in cases filed by white contractors, lower courts cite the City of Richmond v. Croson as a reason for holding set-aside programs unconstitutional.