The Certification Process
In the first blog post of this three part series, we took a look at a brief history of WBENC, certified minority businesses, and supplier diversity programs. If you missed it, take a look here. Now that we’ve provided some background on certification we are going to dive into the process of becoming a Certified Minority Women-Owned Business, how SPOKE612 became certified, and what you might expect if beginning this undertaking yourself!
After working with our client Ameren Illinois we learned about the importance of supplier diversity within their corporation. Becoming a certified minority supplier has benefits for their company and SPOKE612. After learning more about becoming a certified minority supplier, it was a no-brainer that we would dive into what this could mean for SPOKE and the people that hire us.
SPOKE began the process with research: What are supplier diversity programs? What local to Minnesota companies have supplier diversity? Who could SPOKE be certified by? How long does it take? Where do we start? What is a CAGE Code? What is a DUNS Number? SAM? NAICS Code? What do we do with our certification once we’re certified? It all seemed so overwhelming!
From General Mills to General Motors, most, if not all, large companies have supplier diversity programs, but there is a severe lack of minority-owned suppliers to fill the needs. Our research pointed us to WBENC, and we jumped into the process of becoming certified.
Becoming certified is a lengthy, involved, daunting and sometimes confusing process. It is wrought with governmental legal jargon, documentation requirements, and bureaucratic hoops. All in all, it took four months of consistent work for SPOKE612 to become certified. When I asked about the process I was told that, by far, the most difficult aspect was being asked for certain documentation that was unknown, proved difficult to find, furthering the amount of research that was needed to complete the process. After four months of hard work, SPOKE612 became a Certified Minority Women-Owned Business and has been for nearly five years, opening the door to opportunities and networking (we will take a look at those in the third and final WBENC blog)!
I do not write about the challenges of the certification process to scare you. If any of you reading this have been considering becoming certified by WBENC or another organization, such as Vet Biz, NMSDC, and NGLCC, please don’t let the process discourage you. Diversity is so incredibly vital and is a step toward shaking up the status quo. We need more minority owned businesses. Period.
Here are three things SPOKE wished they knew before starting the certification process:
We found “PTAC” when we were nearly done with our application. The Procurement Technical Assistance Center was an invaluable resource for answers and technical direction in the application process. We had a dedicated team member who was a phone call away and was willing to assist and provide continual guidance. Not only do they assist with the application process, they assist with further contracting opportunities, so our relationship continues.
Immediately become involved in your RPO within WBENC. Our Regional Partner Organization of WBENC has seminars to assist in completion of the application. And, once certified, our central WBENC office holds classes and seminars for continuing education and networking. They have full-time staff members who are a valuable resource to answer questions, provide support and link other women-owned businesses together. There are other women-owned businesses who are also interested in networking and using WBE’s in their businesses, so becoming involved is beneficial on many levels.
Throughout the process, don't be intimidated! In the beginning of the application process you will have questions and be faced with things you’ve never heard of. Let’s be honest, government paperwork loaded with jargon is intimidating! But, know there are many resources available, you just need to ask for help! Keep a positive attitude, know you are learning new things, and it’s worth it in the end.
If you are looking to begin this process, we hope you found this as a helpful tool. Tell a friend about supplier diversity programs. Share a link! If you have any additional questions on the process for yourself, send us a note! We’re happy to share what we’ve learned in our process. After all, you never know who (and whose business) you might be supporting.
