NYS M/WBE Certification

NYS MWBE certification is New York State's recognition that a business is at least 51% owned, operated and controlled by minorities and/or women who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents. It is issued by Empire State Development's Division of Minority and Women's Business Development.

NYS M/WBE certification is built for small businesses that are at least 51% owned, operated, and controlled by one or more minority or women individuals and that want to compete for New York State agency contracting opportunities. You may qualify to pursue it if:

• Your business is at least 51% owned, operated and controlled by minorities and/or women
• The qualifying owners are U.S. citizens or permanent residents
• Each qualifying owner's personal net worth is within the program limit
• You have 300 employees or fewer
• The owners make the day-to-day decisions, and the business is authorized to do business in New York
• Out-of-state firms should be certified in their home state first

These are screening indicators only, not a guarantee of eligibility. Eligibility is determined solely by the certifying agency.

The state and city programs look similar but are run by different agencies with different requirements. NYC M/WBE is issued by NYC Small Business Services and is built around City of New York contracts; NYS M/WBE is issued by Empire State Development and applies to state agency contracts statewide. The state program carries its own size standards and a personal net worth limit for the qualifying owner or owners, and it requires a New York State business presence rather than a NYC office. Because the two are separate certifications, pursuing both widens your reach across city and state work — and a single document package can often file them together through One Stop Filing.

If you are based in Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, Dutchess, Orange, or elsewhere in the Hudson Valley, you may still qualify to pursue NYS M/WBE certification — the state program requires a New York State business presence, not a NYC office. The state program is often the right starting point for firms outside the five boroughs that want to compete for state agency procurement. Registering with the New York State Contract Reporter, the state's procurement notification system, is part of getting ready to pursue state work.

A listing in the State MWBE directory, and the ability for State agencies and authorities (and their primes) to count your participation toward their MWBE goals. That includes agencies like DASNY and CUNY, which only credit New York State certification.

Certification does not guarantee contracts, awards, preferences, or revenue. It makes your business eligible to compete for opportunities that carry participation goals.

Most certification delays come from missing paperwork, not the questions themselves. The personal net worth section is where most state applications slow down. Here's what to pull together — organized by where you'll find it.

1. 1Check ownership, control and the personal net worth limit before anything else. Net worth is where many applications stall.
2. 2Gather formation, tax and net worth documents.
3. 3Apply through the Empire State MWBE Hub.
4. 4Respond to ESD requests promptly; they can ask for more documents at any point.
5. 5Recertify in the Hub starting 90 days before your certification expires. You stay in the directory while your recertification is pending.