ATLANTA — Some of Atlanta’s top business leaders are voicing support for Mayor Andre Dickens after his decision to turn down millions of federal dollars for airport improvements in order to preserve the city’s diversity, equity, and inclusion policies.

The Trump administration had pledged to withhold federal funding for airport projects unless the city dropped those policies. Dickens refused, saying the city will look for other revenue sources to cover the shortfall at Hartsfield-Jackson.

Metro Atlanta Chamber President and CEO Katie Kirkpatrick told Bloomberg she believes the mayor’s decision reflects the region’s history and values. “I think if he had, it would have been inauthentic to who we are as a community,” Kirkpatrick said. “People come and go in politics, what doesn’t change is who we are as a community.”

She added that Atlanta’s diverse workforce, rooted in the city’s civil rights legacy, is seen as a strength by business leaders. “Because we are the cradle of the Civil Rights Movement, our DNA is steeped in having a diverse workforce, a diverse community, and the mayor does not shy away from that,” Kirkpatrick said.

Kirkpatrick also noted that corporations are focused on hiring the best talent where they can find it. “One of the biggest strengths that we have in metro Atlanta right now is a diverse, well-educated population that can fill the jobs that we are creating,” she said.

Facing similar pressure from Washington, other cities across the country have also had to make choices about whether to keep or abandon their equity policies.

WSB’s Graham Carroll contributed to this story