M/WBE certification an excellent opportunity for business success
In 2005, Mayor Mike Bloomberg signed the Minority and Women Owned Business Enterprise (M/WBE) Certification legislation, seeking to give minority groups (such as immigrants) and women equal business opportunity in applying for government contracts. Since then, thousands of M/WBE firms have benefited from this legislation because it not only opens doors for government contracting, but also for other private businesses through subcontracts. Highlighting the importance this program has had for the development of New York's economy, in October Governor Kathy Hochul signed a new legislative package to further strengthen the M/WBE program, which among other benefits allows New York City to award contracts of up to $1million to M/WBE firms without a formal competitive process. In this way, for the second year in a row New York State solidifies itself with the highest contracting rate in the nation with nearly $3 billion awarded to M/WBE firms during fiscal year 2022.
What is an M/WBE Company?
M/WBE companies are defined as having a Hispanic, Black, Asian-Indian, Native American or woman as a majority partner (51% or more ownership). The company must be formed or have its principal source of business in New York State and have at least one year of proven operations. New York State has committed to having at least 30% of its contracted suppliers be M/WBE companies, which it has exceeded in the past two years (30.64% of companies in fiscal year 2022). In fact, the companies that have benefited the most from this program are in the construction and restaurant sectors (thousands of new contracts were signed during the pandemic), economic groups that we at WealthSpring Financial Services, are experts in. City contracts can also be opportunities for all types of companies, such as suppliers of furniture, office supplies, clothing, recruitment companies, accounting, consulting, marketing, gardening, food, among other various services or sales of products... the city buys it all!
What are the benefits?
The primary objective of this certification program is that your company has priority when applying for a city contract, for example: if your company applies for a contract and your competitor does not have the M/WBE certification, you will have the priority to obtain it. If you are not interested in applying for direct city contracts because of the high costs incurred, your company can be subcontracted by another company that has contracted with the city or the federal or state government. Other benefits of being a certified company include access to loans, networking and training. M/WBE companies become part of an online public access directory of certified companies, achieving greater visibility, not only with the different agencies of the city, but also with the different contractors and private companies.
After reading this article you will find that obtaining the Minority and Women Business Owners (M/WBE) Certification is a strategic decision that your company must make. If you wish to obtain your certification, please contact us at 917-862-3085 or claudia@wealthspringfinserv.com, so we can advise you on this process. At WealthSpring Financial Services, we have experts in M/WBE certification processes.