Governor Beshear Issues Administrative Order Establishing Statewide Business Certification Program for Women and Minorities

The Louisville chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO®) is celebrating a milestone that is many years in the making and one that will have long-term benefits for women-owned and minority-owned businesses, as well as Kentucky’s economy in general.

During a recent press conference in Louisville, Governor Steve Beshear launched a certification program that allows businesses qualifying as Women Business Enterprises (WBE) and Minority Business Enterprises (MBE) to compete locally, across state lines and nationally, bringing these economic benefits:

• More money flowing into the local and state economy
• More jobs for Kentuckians
• More opportunities for small companies to grow and compete
• New business development, green jobs, bridges jobs, across-state-borders access to projects

Kentucky was one of a few remaining states that lacked state WBE and MBE certifications. State certification is necessary for small- to medium-sized businesses to compete for many of the state contracts, city contracts, publicly held contracts and privately held contracts currently available. Most of these organizations are required to hire female- and minority-categorized businesses, yet those looking to contract in Kentucky and bordering states could not fulfill their obligations because there was not a certification process in place in Kentucky.

The Kentucky legislature considered certification at times in the past, yet it always died at various points in the legislative process.

The National DBE (Disadvantaged Business Enterprise), which was initiated during President Johnson’s administration and administered in Kentucky through the Transportation Department, was the only state certification available for women- and minority-owned businesses. However, the net income levels are so low that most businesses cannot qualify for this certification.

Lesa Seibert, president of NAWBO® Louisville and owner of Xstreme Media, says, “NAWBO®’s focused efforts to seek a certification process for the commonwealth started in 2007. Then-president Maggie Harlow asked Lisa Cates and Liz Welsh, founders of Executive Communications, to spearhead the chapter’s efforts.”  Cates agrees, stating, “NAWBO® worked closely with the governor’s office and with Eleanor Jordan, Executive Director of the Kentucky Commission on Women; former-Governor Martha Layne Collins; Greater Louisville Inc., the Metro Chamber of Commerce; the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC) and the Women Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), which recently opened a regional office in the Northern Kentucky/Cincinnati area. She said several of the Kentucky WBENC members wrote letters explaining the issues they faced when trying to compete for contracts within the commonwealth as well as in neighboring states.

Tricia Burke, president of Office Environment Company in Louisville, wrote, “… To be certified in Indiana, you must be certified by your home state. Our company, Office Environment Company, was certified as a DBE/WBE through the Dept. of Transportation … in 2001 ... but when we went for renewal a few years ago, we were denied, saying we had ‘graduated’ because our sales were too high.”

Camilla Schroeder, president of Advance Ready Mix Concrete, Louisville, estimated that her company missed out on opportunities to bid on Kentucky Department of Transportation projects totaling about $2.7 million in April alone. “We also feel the effects from the lack of opportunity to work on projects in Indiana, as we do not have our home state's certification,” she said.

Information about the certification program and a link to the application for certification are now available at http://mwbe.ky.gov. The Finance and Administration Cabinet oversees the program within the Office of Equal Employment Opportunity and Contract Compliance.