Something that is valuable—of great worth—typically comes at a significant cost.
Minority and/or Woman-Owned Business Enterprise (MBE, WBE or MWBE) certifications are incredibly important for businesses, especially those that offer goods and services to local, state and federal agencies. While there is no application fee to apply in New York State, to successfully receive certification requires a significant investment of time and effort.
In other words, NY State MWBE certification is valuable. How valuable? It can mean thousands, or even millions, of dollars to your business, so... yes, it is super valuable.
The Benefits: Money, Resources and Connections
Money: Empire State Development reports that $29 BILLION dollars in contracts have been awarded to M/WBE certified businesses. Office of General Services (OGS) has established an agency-wide goal of 30% MWBE participation on NY State contracts. When you read the NYS Contract Reporter, where all State contracts must be listed, the number and scope of lucrative contracts awaiting certified businesses is staggering.
Resources and Connections: As a WBE-certified business, I receive multiple emails each day offering the following:
Information on how to sell to New York State
Information on current New York State contracting opportunities including customized alerts
Training and tools for leveraging the MWBE certification
Information on access to capital, technical support, and more
Grant programs (yes, free money that does not have to be paid back!)
Educational programs like Business Growth Accelerator
Networking such as the Mentor-Protégé Program, NY Women’s Chamber of Commerce and many more
The Investment
The process seems simple enough as described on the website: Ensure that you qualify as a minority and/or woman-owned business, set up an account, submit the required forms and paperwork and, voila, you will receive an email saying you’re certified. Uhhhhh, that’s a sweet fairytale, but it doesn’t really work that way.
Depending on the size and nature of your business, your legal representation, your record-keeping and your organizational and writing skills, be prepared to invest anywhere from 20 to 40+ hours into this process. Or more.
Once you have 100% completed the application and finally (thankfully) hit the “Submit” button, be prepared to wait up to two years to receive notification of approval or denial. If you are denied—for something simple or complex—the appeal process is an additional investment of your time.
We Can Help
If you are considering creating a business and/or applying for MWBE status, The Reds Group has the experience and expertise that will help you achieve your goals. There are many “tricks of the trade” that we’ve learned to help expedite the process and complete a solid, successful application.
Give me a call at 716-480-2595 or email claire_carlo@TheRedsGroup.com and let’s talk about your business, your goals and how we can help make NYS M/WBE certification a valuable part of your business strategy.
Claire L. Carlo
President
The Reds Group Strategic Services, LLC
A WBE-certified business
Note: ChatGPT and other AI-content producing tools were not used to write this article. :-)
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