MBE Certification
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Definition of Minority-owned Business | Reasons to Be Certified and Involved in the Council
Certification processing fees may now be paid online by credit card or electronic check. However, all application forms and requested documentation must be COMPLETED, PRINTED and MAILED (not e-mailed or faxed unless requested to do so) to:
Wisconsin Iowa and Central Illinois Minority Supplier Development Council
Attn: Floyd Rose, President
P.O. Box 8577
Madison, Wisconsin 53708-8577
Initial Certification Application |
Recertification Application/ |
Reciprocal Services |
Definition of Minority-owned Business
Referred to as a Minority Business Enterprise (MBE), an MBE is a for-profit enterprise, regardless of size, physically located in the United States or its trust territories, which is owned, operated and controlled by minority group members.
For purposes of the National Minority Supplier Development Council's (NMSDC's) program, a minority group member is an individual who is at least 1/4 or 25% minimum (documentation to support claim of 25% may be required from applicant) of the following:
- African American: A U.S. citizen having origins in any of the Black racial groups of Sub-Sahara Africa.
- Hispanic American: A U.S. citizen of true-born Hispanic heritage (true-born meaning "authentically" or "genuinely" as per Webster), from any of the Spanish speaking areas of Latin America or the following regions: Mexico, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean basin only. For the purposes of certification, persons from Brazil will be designated under this category.
- Native American: A person who is an American Indian, Eskimo, Aleut, or Native Hawaiian, and regarded as such by the community of which the person claims to be a part. Native Americans must be documented members of a North American tribe, band or otherwise organized group of native people who are indigenous to the continental United States and proof can be provided through a Native American Blood Degree Certificate (i.e.: tribal registry letter, tribal roll register number).
- Asian-Pacific American: A U.S. citizen whose origins are from Japan, China, Taiwan, Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, the Philippines, Samoa, Guam, or the U.S. trust territories of the Pacific or the Northern Marianas.
- Asian-Indian American: U.S. citizens whose origins are in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Reasons to Be Certified and Involved in the Council
SALES
- Increasing the potential to secure contacts from Corporate and Institutional Members of the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC)
- The NMSDC serves more than four thousand (4,000) buying organizations that purchase goods and services from NMSDC-certified companies.
- Improve the probability of obtaining and retaining larger projects/contracts
- Those corporate members of the NMSDC provide a greater frequency of opportunity to certified firms of the NMSDC via the MBISYS database utilized by more than 4,000 corporate members.
- Enhance opportunities for certified minority businesses in national contracts
- A special category of NMSDC certified suppliers are provided opportunities to compete for national contracts through the Corporate Plus program.
FINANCIAL
- Certified MBEs can obtain funding up to $1 million and other financial services through the Business Consortium Fund Guaranty/Loan Participation Program.
EDUCATION
- Certified MBEs can participate in educational programs that bolster business expertise, proficiency levels, and technical confidence through a series of classes, seminars and workshops, many of which are offered at major colleges and universities.
NETWORKING
- Certified MBEs can participate in National and International Networking forums, such as the annual Business Opportunity Fairs that are conducted by 36 Regional Councils in the United States and 7 Councils internationally.
- Additionally, certified MBEs can attend buyer/supplier forums that match corporate buyers and MBEs from the same industries to explore business opportunities, general membership meetings, and annual golf and sports outings that enable MBEs and buyers to cultivate business relationships.
Other Programs Include:
- Business and training seminars that help MBEs gain a firm command of all aspects of their business operations.
- Identification of minority-friendly funding sources, such as the Business Consortium Fund (BCF) and the Urban Enterprise Loan (UEL) program.
- Networking forums, such as the annual Business Opportunity Fair (HOI), general membership meetings, and annual golf and sports outings, that enable MBEs and buyers to cultivate business relationships.
- Mentoring opportunities with corporate members who are committed to leveraging their size, competencies, buying power, and financial resources to help MBEs expand their capacity and capabilities.
- Referral service that forwards to MBEs bids and other business opportunity notices received by Wisconsin Iowa and Central Illinois Council. A list of purchasing contacts at member companies.
- Buyer/supplier forums that match corporate buyers and MBEs from the same industries to explore business opportunities.
Also, certification applications can be found on the Council website by accessing http://www.suppliercouncil.org/PDF/Certification_MBEApplicationforCertification.pdf.
