M/WBE Certification

If you are a minority or women business owner and you control the majority of the business – it’s time to get your business certified as M/WBE. These programs are here to help provide a more equitable system to support running a business for under-represented groups, so apply if you are eligible. There are no real downsides to becoming a certified M/WBE business.

What is M/WBE Certification?  

M/WBE stands for minority/women-owned business enterprises. Some states have additional certification for other disadvantaged businesses but I am going to focus on minority and women business enterprises for the purposes here. Yes – you can be both, so if it applies to you – don’t forget to apply for both minority and women business enterprise certification. Pay careful attention to the qualifier within your certifying agency – most states line up with the federal definitions of minority-owned businesses, but there are exceptions.

Why Become Certified?

The process can be somewhat painful – the certifying agency may ask questions that you might find intrusive about your business i.e., your taxes, your personal wealth, and the agreements among business partners. There is sometimes a small fee based on the agency where you are certifying. There may be a visit to your place of business to check on the information submitted, and it could take a couple of months to finalize the process, but in the end, there are advantages to being certified.

These advantages could include:

• Access to government contracts. The federal government has set aside dedicated contracting dollars for small and disadvantaged businesses which many M/WBE firms can qualify for.
• Networking with larger companies who want to work with underrepresented groups through supplier diversity programs.
• Getting listed on a state-wide directory provides further outreach for your business and can drive more traffic to your website.
• Depending on the state, technical training opportunities on government contracting and bidding, and some special business loans.
• Here’s the biggest marketing hint – You get to announce your certification in your marketing with a press release and on social media. Put it on your email signature line, create a certification logo for your website – get the news out there.

There are 38 states and Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico that participate in M/WBE certification programs – you have nothing to lose by getting certified and plenty to gain.