M/WBE Certification

Minority and Women Business Enterprise (M/WBE) Certification Can be a Powerful Marketing Tool

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.  

If you need help getting certified, please feel free to reach out. We’ve done it for several clients and ourselves (ours is pending right now) and can answer all sorts of questions.