Minority Business Certification Options in Nebraska:

The State of Nebraska does not have a minority business certification program such as practiced in various cities and states around the country.

Below are listed several ways this issue is addressed by the organizations identified. In addition to options described below, a firm may identify itself as woman- and/or minority-owned when registering with the Nebraska Dept. of Administrative Services Materiel Division, but they do not officially 'certify' this status of firms on their bid list.

If you would like further information on the State of Nebraska's procurent policies and procedures, contact the Materiel Division at 402-471-2401 or visit their web site at: http://www.das.state.ne.us/materiel/purchasing/purchasing.html.

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The current options for business ownership certifications in Nebraska: 

 The Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) has a certification program:  http://www.wbenc.org/Certification/ 

OMAHA:  Contact Kathy Hendrix at 402-444-5056 / khendrix@ci.omaha.ne.us  - or Maria Partida 402-444-5053 / mpartida@ci.omaha.ne.us in the City of Omaha Human Rights and Relations Department (Gail Kinsey Thompson, Director).     The Department has discontinued it's woman- and minority-owned business certification program.  For information on their new Tier 1 and Tier 2  poverty area certification program see:   http://www.co.douglas.ne.us/omaha/humanrights/contract-compliance 

 STATE: The Nebraska Department of Roads has adopted Federal 49-CFR, Part 26 (DBE - Disadvantaged Business Enterprise) standards as a certification program for companies with which they contract (primarily construction, but transportation companies may inquire). Call or e-mail Joe Kisicki at (402) 479-4531 / jkisicki@dor.state.ne.us or visit their DBE web site at: http://www.dor.state.ne.us/letting/dbeinfo.htm for further information.

The Great Plains Minority Supplier Development Council, Inc., based in Omaha, does certification for a fee and helps locate procurement opportunities for ethnic minority suppliers in a region covering Nebraska, South Dakota and Western Iowa.  Their Minority Business Certification application form is online at: http://www.gpmsdc.com/PDF/MinBusEntCertification.pdf   Contact Jean M. Eakins at 402-614-9355 / jeakins@gpmsdc.com  (Rudy Cooper, President)

FEDERAL: A company can be Federally certified as minority owned. First, they can identify themselves as minority owned in each solicitation they submit for a government contract. It has to be based on ethnicity, not gender. If the company's minority-owned status is challenged, the Small Business Administration may be called in to verify the company's claim of being minority owned. Second, a company can apply through the SBA Small Disadvantaged Business Certification Program. For information on this option, please see: http://www.sbaonline.sba.gov/sdb/

A company can be Federally certified would be to apply for this status through the SBA 8a Certification program (see: http://www.sba.gov/8abd/. The contact person for this in the Omaha office is Kathleen Piper at (402) 221-7205. As in the other program, minority owned status is based on race, not gender.