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Supplier Diversity Definitions

Minority Business Enterprise (MBE)

To qualify as an MBE, the firm must be a for-profit enterprise, regardless of size, physically located in the United States or its trust territories, which is owned, operated and controlled by minority group members. Ownership by minority individuals means the business is at least 51% owned by such individuals or, in the case of a publicly-owned business, at least 51% of the stock is owned by one or more such individuals. Further, those minority group members control the management and daily operations.

Minority group members are defined as:

  1. Asian-Indian - A U.S. citizen whose origins are from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
  2. Asian-Pacific - A U.S. citizen whose origins are from Japan, China, Taiwan, Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, the Philippines, Samoa, Guam, the U.S. Trust Territories of the Pacific or the Northern Marianas.
  3. African-American - A U.S. citizen having origins in any of the Black racial groups of Africa.
  4. Hispanic - A U.S. citizen of true-born Hispanic heritage, from any of the Spanish-speaking areas of Latin America or the following regions: Mexico, Central America, South America and the Caribbean Basin only.
  5. Native-American - A person who is an American Indian, Eskimo, Aleut or Native Hawaiian, and regarded as such by the community of which the person claims to be a part. Native Americans must be documented members of a North American tribe, band or otherwise organized group of native people who are indigenous to the continental United States and proof can be provided through a Native American Blood Degree Certificate (i.e., tribal registry letter, tribal roll register number).

To certify your business as an MBE, visit the National Minority Supplier Development Council home page.

Women Business Enterprise (WBE)

To qualify as an WBE, the firm must be a for-profit enterprise, regardless of size, physically located in the United States or its trust territories, which is owned, operated and controlled by a woman or women members. Ownership by female individuals means the business is at least 51% owned by such individuals or, in the case of a publicly-owned business, at least 51% of the stock is owned by one or more such individuals. Further, the management and daily operations are controlled by the woman or women members.

To certify your busines as a WBE, visit the Women's Business Enterprise National Council.

Veteran-Owned Business

To qualify as Veteran-Owned Business, a business must be at least 51 percent owned by a veteran who also control and operate it; "control" in this context means exercising the power to make policy decisions; "operate" in this context means actively involved in the day-to-day management of the business.

To certify your business as a Veteran-Owned, visit the Central Contractor Registration

HUBZone

To qualify for the program, a business (except tribally-owned concerns) must meet the following criteria:

  • It must be a small business by SBA standards;
  • It must owned and controlled at least 51% by U.S. citizens, or a Community Development Corporation, or an agricultural cooperative or an Indian tribe;
  • Its principal office must be located within a 'Historically Underutilized Business Zone', which includes lands considered Indian Country and military facilities closed by the Base Realignment and Closure Act; and
  • At least 35% of its employees must reside in a HUBZone.

Existing businesses that choose to move to qualified areas are eligible. To fulfill the requirement that 35% of a HUBZone firm's employees reside in the HUBZone, employees must live in a primary residence within that area for at least 180 days or be a currently registered voter in that area