Posted February 22, 2008

Minority Business Development--State MBE Certification Programs

Among minority business enterprise (MBE) development strategies, perhaps the most well known, are programs designed to encourage minority-owned business growth through facilitated participation in government procurement.

MBE procurement assistance programs often include services such as technical training on government contracting and the bidding process, as well as notification of current bidding opportunities. Providing more direct assistance, some states have “set aside” programs where a certain percentage of government contracting is designated for minority firms. These set asides are expressed as goals that government agencies try to meet, and are not treated as enforceable quotas.

States with set aside programs certify minority-owned businesses as such to ensure that participation in the program is limited to the group it was designed to assist. The application process for certification often involves submitting a detailed report on the firm along with supporting documents to the certification authority. The authority may also visit the business site to verify information provided in the application. The certification process can take as little as 10 days in some states, and up to 90 days in others.

In addition to state-level programs, there are federal programs that also provide direct procurement assistance to minority owned-businesses. The U.S. Small Business Administration’s 8a and SDB programs, as well as the Department of Transportation’s disadvantaged business enterprise (DBE) development program, all involve set asides and certification for federally-funded government procurement.

At least 27 states have state-level MBE development programs involving certification for participation in state government procurement independent of existing federal DBE development programs in both funding and administration. The following chart contains a list of states with these programs, information on their administrative structure, and links to their respective websites.

State MBE Certification Programs

STATE	ADMINISTERING AGENCY/ PROGRAM	CERTIFICATION AUTHORITY
Alabama	Department of Economic and Community Affairs	Office of Minority Business Enterprise
California	Department of General Services State-level MBE program found unconstitutional in 1998. Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise (DVBE) and Small Business Enterprise programs still effective.	Office of Small Business Certification and Resources
Connecticut	Department of Administrative Services	Supplier Diversity Program
Delaware	Department of Administrative Services	Office of Minority and Women Business Enterprise
Florida	Department of Service Management	Office of Supplier Diversity
Illinois	Department of Central Management Services	Business Enterprise Program
Indiana	Department of Administration	Minority Business Development Program
Iowa	Department of Inspections and Appeals	Targeted Small Business Certification Program
Kansas	Department of Commerce	Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program
Maryland	Department of Transportation	Office of Minority Business Enterprise Program
Massachusetts	Department of Business and Technology	State Office of Minority and Women Business Assistance
Minnesota	Department of Administration	Materials Management Division, Targeted Group/Economically Disadvantaged Small Business Program
Mississippi	Mississippi Development Authority, Minority and Small Business Development Division	Minority Business Certification Program
Missouri	Office of Administration	Office of Supplier and Workforce Diversity
New Jersey		Minority and Woman-Owned Business Enterprise Program
New York	Empire State Development	Division of Minority and Women-owned Business Development
North Carolina	Department of Administration	Office for Historically Underutilized Businesses
Ohio	Department of Administrative Services, Equal Opportunity Division	Minority Business Enterprise Unit
Oregon	Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services	Office of Minority, Women and Emerging Small Business
Pennsylvania	Department of General Services	Bureau of Minority and Women Business Opportunities
Rhode Island	Department of Administration	Rhode Island Minority Business Enterprise Compliance Office
South Carolina	Governor’s Office of Small and Minority Business Assistance	Governor’s Office of Small and Minority Business Assistance
Texas	Texas Building and Procurement Commission	Historically Underutilized Business Program
Virginia	Department of Minority Business Enterprise, Services Division	Department of Minority Business Enterprise, Services Division
Washington	Office of Minority and Women’s Business Enterprise	Office of Minority and Women’s Business Enterprises
West Virginia	West Virginia Development Office	Small Business Development Center
Wisconsin	Department of Commerce, Bureau of Minority Business Development Department of Administration, Division of State Agency Services, Minority Business Enterprise	Department of Commerce, Bureau of Minority Business Development

Other Resources:

U.S. Department of Transportation - Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization web site

U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) - Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB) program web site

“Minority-Owned Business Development” - NCSL LegisBrief, June, 2004 - NCSL Publications

For more information or for errors or omissions in this chart please contact:

Ian Pulsipher
NCSL Fiscal Affairs
econ-info@ncsl.org
303-364-7700 ext. 1649

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