4 minute read
Women-Owned Business Certifications
Women-Owned
Business Certifications
BY MICAELA TAYLOR
Women-owned business certifications aim to provide women-owned businesses with opportunities by offering support in areas such as obtaining funding and securing government and/or private-sector contracts.
As a local attorney practicing with Dinsmore & Shohl LLP’s construction law practice group, I believe it is important for women-owned business to obtain certifications at the state and local levels and to structure their businesses in a manner consistent with certification guidelines.
Government-sponsored women-owned business certifications, among other aims, allow business owners who belong to historically disadvantaged classes to be considered for select government contracts to the exclusion of others. To help bridge gaps in industries where women and minorities are historically underrepresented, government agencies at the federal, state and local levels award a certain percentage of their contracts to women- and minorityowned businesses. In some cases, set-aside contracts for women-owned businesses even extend into the private sector. In fact, through set-aside contracts, women- and minorityowned businesses are shaping the local culture around Columbus, Ohio more than most are likely even aware. Having completed construction on the longanticipated Columbus Crew SC’s stadium in Summer of 2021, women- and minority-owned businesses are responsible for more than a quarter of the work that was performed.i Dinsmore is able to assist womenowned businesses with organizing their businesses to comply with both private- and public-sector certification guidelines and with applying for and maintaining their certifications to be eligible for set-aside contracts.
Currently, according to the National Association of Women Business Owners, the United States has 12.3 million women-owned businesses, making up 40 percent of all U.S. businesses. Historically, womenowned businesses have struggled to obtain equal representation in many industries, to secure funding for their businesses, and to be selected for lucrative contract work.
Christine Anderson, founder and president of Anderson Decorating, Inc., is no stranger to the challenges that accompany running a woman-owned business.
“You’re not taken seriously,” Anderson says of being a woman business owner in the historically maledominated construction industry. “It took a while to be recognized.”
Anderson has been a business owner since 1995, when she founded Anderson Decorating, a commercial painting company in the central Ohio area. Like many women business owners, Anderson has taken advantage of women-owned business certifications to advance her business’ goals. Anderson Decorating is certified through Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBE), Economic Dividends for Gender Equality (EDGE), and Women Business Enterprise (WBE). Having multiple certifications is significant to securing contracts set aside for women business owners with different agencies and companies because each organization has separate requirements as to the certifications that must be obtained.
To be eligible for these set-aside awards, women-owned businesses must apply for and be granted the required certification. Many of the certifications possess the same general requirements. To secure a certification,
women-owned businesses typically must show they are at least 51 percent owned, capitalized and controlled by a woman, and that a woman holds the highest executive office, is responsible for managing the day-to-day business and has technical experience in the business’ primary activity.
And as Anderson points out, holding some certifications may be more helpful to women-owned businesses than others. While she attributes the majority of her business to her DBE and EDGE certifications, Anderson acknowledges that little to none of Anderson Decorating’s contract work results from her WBE certification, despite the requirements for keeping up with the certification. The utility of different federal, state and local certifications ultimately depends on the industry and goals of the business.
Getting the certification is just the beginning. While Anderson credits 90 percent of the work Anderson Decorating performs to opportunities presented by becoming a certified womanowned business, she is clear that business owners should not expect the work to fall in their laps. Becoming certified allows womenowned businesses to bid on certain contracts, but it doesn’t guarantee they will win the bid and be awarded the work.
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“It doesn’t mean you’re going to get the work, but the more opportunities you have, eventually you will land it,” she says. “At times, I may not be the lowest bid, but I may be close enough, so because I’m [certified], I’m provided with the opportunity.”
Certifications provide women-owned businesses with invaluable opportunities. Women entrepreneurs should research agencies and companies that offer attractive contract opportunities for their businesses and consider undergoing the process to obtain required certifications for those entities. Legal representation can also help with this endeavor.
i https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2021/03/27/crew-project-minoritycontracting-results.html
Micaela M. Taylor, Esq.
Dinsmore & Shohl LLP micaela.taylor@dinsmore.com
