Posts Tagged ‘DBE’
Site Visit Preparations
A Little History: In the past, SDMWVBEs (Small, Disadvantaged/Disabled, Minority, Women, or Veteran Business Enterprises) were certified on faith that owners provided truthful information on application forms and that they really, actually owned and operated their own businesses. Unfortunately, in the early days there was a fair amount of fraud, so the certification process itself…
Read MoreDOT UCP Changes
Not a month goes by that we don’t wonder what to write about. Sometimes it is easier, like when massive change forces your hand! To refresh, the US Department of Transportation (DOT) is the parent agency that fosters Unified Certification Programs (UCP) for SDMWVBEs (Small, Disadvantaged, Minority, Women, or Veteran Business Enterprises) by state DOTs. Back in…
Read MoreChange in the UCP Program: What does the Interstate Certification process mean to the DBEs?
Earlier this year states began implementing the Interstate Certification (49 CFR 26.85) process, a change made at Federal level to the UCP (Unified Certification Program). As of mid-June, twenty of fifty states – Alabama, Alaska, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Iowa, Maryland, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina,…
Read MoreSize Standards Revised!
Claiming Small Business Status? It is important to know that there are sizing rules and regulations that you must use to determine whether or not your business is considered small. And, the definition of small depends on your business’s industry based on NAICS (North American Industry Classification System) codes. At the federal level, being classified as…
Read MoreCreating Inclusion Strategies
While we may not be completely aware of the impact, SDMWVBE (Small, Disadvantaged, Minority, Women, or Veteran Business Enterprise) business owners are often the beneficiaries of the supplier diversity inclusion initiatives taken by large organizations. I found my favorite definition of D&I on the Royal Bank of Canada’s web site: “In simple terms, diversity is…
Read MoreWe’re Certified, Now What? Revisited
In speaking with newly certified SDMWVBE (Small, Disadvantaged, Minority, Women, or Veteran Business Enterprise) business owners or those seeking certification the question “What does certification do for me?” is often asked. In most cases, just being certified does not help grow your business; it is how you’re able to market your certification and utilize programs…
Read MoreCertification Alphabet Soup (or fun with acronyms)
In the world of diversity certifications there are many acronyms, some more familiar than others. This alphabet soup contains WBE, MBE, DBE, SBE, VBE, DSBE, HUB, LGBT and that’s only half of them. Some of the abbreviations are shared by government and third-party certifiers (MBE, WBE) and others are specific to the Federal government (8(a),…
Read MoreSimilar, But Not the Same
Having researched the UCP (Unified Certification Program) for all 50 states, as well as Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands; I thought I had a pretty good handle on what to expect from the certification process. Recently though we’ve experienced some new quirks as we’ve sought certification in additional states as a part of our…
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