This blog is primarily about business women in Maryland, which occasionally gets some press.  According to an article today in the Baltimore Sun, "OMalley ensures Minority Business," the current implementation of government contracts for women  owned or minority owned businesses is under review.  "The governor told the Maryland-Washington Minority Contractors Association that although the number of minority- and women-owned firms registered with the state has increased in recent years, it appears that minorities' share of state business might actually have declined." 

Quite an interesting mix of statistics - women-owned firms have increased, but no thanks to governmental contracts.  So, what does this news mean to say, a local business woman in Annapolis or Bowie? Apparently the American Minority Contractors and Businesses Association thinks we are headed for a positive year.   As the Sun quoted the Association's president: "There's a great belief and anticipation in the minority business community that he's going to be good for the program because he believes in it...  There's no way he's going to come back here with bad numbers."

For women-owned or ethnic minority owned businesses who have not yet competed for governmental contracts - this seems a good time to consider it.  Since 2001, Maryland's MBE Participation goal is 25%, with sub-goals of 10% for Women owned firms and 7% for African American owned firms. With current rates much under those goals, there certainly appears to be some room for businesswomen to compete. 

Don't know where to begin?  To compete under the MBE program for government contracts, your business must first be "Certified."  How do you get certified as a minority business?  Ask your start-up attorney about this... for instance, my law firm offers this service as an add-on to the standard small business formation package or as a separate service to existing businesses.  Requirements for certification include the size of the business (large businesses cannot qualify), the net worth of the owner (for instance, the respective empires of Oprah or Martha Stewart  would disqualify those businesswomen!) and ownership - your business must be at least  51% owned by a member(s) of one or more of the following groups: African American/Black, Female, Asian Pacific, Hispanic, Subcontinent Asian, American Indian/Native American.