FYI
Learning From Fangirls (and boys)
We’ve been reading rather than writing, lately, and two books made such an impact we had to share the insights we’ve gained with a wider community — we’ll talk more about The Confidence Code in our next blog as our most recent discussion happened when one of us posed the question: Can you be a…
Read MoreMore Inclusion for V/SDVOBs
Back in March the State of New York announced the addition of the Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Business (SDVOB) classification on the NYS Contract Reporter (NYSCR). This designation will be self-identifying and will allow New York State agencies to enter their SDVOB contracting goals into NYSCR. Though the State is not currently certifying businesses as SDVOBs the…
Read MoreIntentional Involvement
Being involved in the SDMWVBE (Small, Disadvantaged, Minority, Women or Veteran Business Enterprise) community should mean more than taking advantage of opportunities. We’ve often written about “walking the walk”, creating our own opportunities for and supporting other SDMWVBE businesses. For us, this meant commenting at a public hearing in Allegheny County Pennsylvania regarding potential changes to…
Read MoreIntentional Diversity
We started this blog five years ago, with a sense of continuing hope that remains strong despite recent and recurring public incidents of violent bigotry. Last year we published multiple entries about The Inclusion Dividend: Why Investing in Diversity & Inclusion Pays Off by Mark Kaplan and Mason Donovan. The theme of these entries centered…
Read MoreSite 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 MoreWhat’s In Store for 2015?
Happy, happy, merry, merry and all of that holiday jazz with Best Wishes for 2015 from all of us at Abator and GetDiversityCertified.com. A famous Dickens’ character says “May I have some more, please”? That’s what we want – more diversity in the workplace and market place. And, if recent news articles are any indication,…
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 MoreNetworking Choices
Time has simply slipped away so fast, part of it consumed by attending SDMWVBE (Small, Disadvantaged, Minority, Women, or Veteran Business Enterprise) events in multiple states. Not a day goes by that that we don’t get at least one invitation or notice about an event in one of the states where we’re certified. Networking is working…
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…
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