Making Certification Work

Does certification really give women- and minority-owned businesses an advantage? Yes, but not in the ways you might expect. Being certified as a Women Business Enterprise (WBE) or Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) means that the company has gone through a rigorous and stringent certification process to confirm that it is managed and controlled by a woman or minority owner or owners. However, the benefits of certification are not inherent; instead you have to actively maximize the advantages that it can provide.

Veronica Rose, president and CEO of Aurora Electric in Queens, is the first woman to hold a New York City master electrician’s license. Her company furnishes, installs and maintains electrical, data, telecommunications, wireless technology and security and other intelligent systems in both residential and commercial buildings. Aurora routinely contracts with federal, state and local government agencies as well as large corporations.

Getting certified does not necessarily open floodgates of new clients or guarantee you will win jobs. “In today’s political climate, there are few ‘set-aside’ projects,” says Rose. In the past, government agencies would set aside projects for only minority and women businesses to bid on. “But because of the number of [discrimination] court cases, agencies are afraid to use [supplier diversity] as a benchmark,” she says. According to Rose, the real value of certification is when you’re closing a deal and after the deal is done.

After nearly 10 years of experience running a certified business, Rose shares tips that have helped her maximize her certification.

Certification is a Job

As recently as six years ago, each federal, state and local government agency had its own certification requirements. Now, most federal agencies and private companies accept the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) certification, but the process is not completely streamlined. Each entity may have additional criteria, and preparing the necessary information to supplier diversity programs can be an arduous process. Public benefit corporations, such as the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the Battery Park City Authority all have unique requirements for women business enterprises (WBE) or minority business enterprises (MBE). To meet these demands, Aurora Electric employs a dedicated employee who oversees the certification requirements, especially during the RFP preparation process.

Corporate Motivation

Clients are concerned about the bottom line first and foremost, followed by a hundred other items on their “to do” lists. Clients don’t necessarily pay attention to supplier diversity goals during the contracting process. “The only reason the private market has gotten into certification is because they are publicly traded companies,” says Rose. “The marketing departments have done their homework and realized that in order to sell to our demographic [women and minorities], it helps them to say, ‘We are using a woman-owned business to build that store in your neighborhood.