What does MBE mean? MBE stands for "Minority Business Enterprise." If you are an MBE, you can obtain one or more levels of certification to increase your business sales opportunities.
With an MBE certification, you simply obtain a certification from a certification office to confirm that your business is 51% owned, controlled, and operated by one or more minorities. It can be confusing since there are different types and levels of certification, so let's look at each type in more detail.
To begin with, MBE certifications are not for eveyrone. For example, there really isn't any need to obtain a MBE certification if you have the type of business that doesn't sell a product or service that the government or Corporate America would ever want to purchase.
But if you would like these wealthy government and corporate clients to purchase your products or services, then definitely you should consider obtaining the MBE certification. One valuable reason an MBE certification is desirable is because some government agencies and many large corporations are required to award a certain percentage of business every year to MBE enterprises. Your MBE certification allows you to prove that you meet the requirement of being a minority-owned business.
Here are the four different levels of MBE certifications: 1. Certification at the Local Level 2. Certification at the State Level 3. Certification at the Federal Level 4. Certification at the National Level
Certification at the Local Level: A local government agency awards local certifications. Your business should obtain a local MBE certification if wanting to do business with a particular local government agency and desiring to increase your chances of getting them as a client.
State Certifications for MBE's: State certifications can be obtained in most states through that state's MBE/WBE office. If you want to sell to state governments with increase opportunities to get projects from them, you should obtain a state certification. If you want to obtain a state MBE certification, contact the certifying office in the state in which you want to be certified. You then have to submit the application and supporting documentatin that they require.
Federal Certification for MBE: Actually, there is no formal certification process for obtaining federal certification. The Federal MBE certifications are what are called "self-certifying." When selling to the U.S. federal government, then you "self-certify" that you are a MBE. The "self-certifying" means that you sign and acknowledge on the submitted bids that your business is 51% owned, controlled, and operated by a minority. If you are later awarded that project with the federal government, you may be asked to prove your MBE status, but in most cases they don't. Do not claim to be a MBE if you are not.
Since there is no formal federal government MBE application process, you can get started immediately and respond to federal government opportunities and leverage your MBE status be sure that you are registered as a federal government vendor with CCR, etc.). While the federal government does not have mandatory projects that MUST be set-aside for MBE's, they do try and award a certain percentage of contracts to MBE's to increase diversity and help minority businesses grow. So even though there is not an official mandated quota, there are still tremendous advantages to having a self-certified MBE certification at the federal level.
National Certifications for MBE's: The National Minority Supplier Diversity Council (www.NMSDC.org/ ) is the certifying office for national certifications. National certifications allow you to increase your chances of selling to large corporations. You should first check with the large corporations that you want as clients to see whether they require a national certification or not, before you proceed. You may find that the corporations who you want to work with may honor a state certification, or not require one at all. But many large corporations today require that you have a national certification from NMSDC.
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