Small business owners wanting to be certified by the state of New Jersey as a Minority and/or Women Business Enterprise (MBE or WBE) are able to submit an application to the NJ Division of Revenue. Certification as an MBE or WBE enables a small business to participate in government and private firm procurement opportunities that direct a share to them versus non-certified businesses.
Standards for eligibility and to obtain an application form, visit http://www.nj.gov/njbusiness/contracting/
Along with the application, a $100 fee is required to be paid via non-refundable check or money order, no cash will be accepted. The average processing period is four weeks that is completed upon the cashing of the check.
The multiple page application requires a range of information to achieve certification. This includes a list of the names of all the employees along with their ethnicity and sex, a brief statement concerning the business’s field of operation, along with documents verifying business formation. The amount of total gross sales, listing of capital investors, federal state tax returns, income statements, number of shares in all classes of stock, are among other information that is also needed for the application process.
The approval or denial will be sent to the applicant via letter in the mail. Once approved as a MBE and/or a WBE, this certification lasts a period 3 years. Renewals must be filed at least 20 days prior to the third year anniversary of the certification. When requesting for a renewal, the business owner must verify that there has been no change in ownership or any other factor that changes the status from being a minority or women business enterprise.
If a business owner fails to do the renewal process within 20 days of their third anniversary of their MBE/WBE status then the status will be revoke. Afterward the business owner will have to start the application process over again along with the $100 fee. If the business does the renewal process but is rejected from the status due to no longer fitting the criteria, then an appeal can be filed by the owner. For assistance filing the application out, one can visit the Small Business Developmental Center for one-on-one assistance.
