Minority/Women-Owned Business Enterprises

NYPA has a longstanding history of supporting and promoting economic development throughout New York State, by using diverse vendors. This is reflected by our use of Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprises’ (MWBEs) in our contracting and competitive-bidding processes.

To become certified as a New York State MWBE, a business must apply through the Empire State Development’s Division of Minority and Women-Owned Business Development on the New York State Contract System website (link at top left). A firm must be certified by the State of New York in order to be recognized as an MWBE; however, lack of certification does not preclude a vendor from doing business with NYPA. Minority and Women-Owned Businesses are defined by New York State Law as the following:

Minority-Owned Business Enterprise
A business enterprise, including a sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company or corporation that is at least fifty-one percent owned by one or more minority group members. Minority group members are defined as a United States citizen or permanent resident alien who is and can demonstrate membership in one of the following groups:

• Black persons having origins in any of the Black African racial groups not of Hispanic origin;
• Hispanic persons of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Dominican, Cuban, Central or South American descent of either Indian or Hispanic origin, regardless of race;
• Asian and Pacific Islander persons having origins in any of the Far East countries, Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent or the Pacific Islands; or
  Native American or Alaskan native persons having origins in any of the original peoples of North America.
• Women-Owned Business Enterprise – a business enterprise, including a sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company or corporation that is at least fifty-one percent owned by one or more United States citizens or permanent resident aliens who are women.

Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Business (SDVOB)

NYPA’s history of supporting diverse vendors is also evident in our SDVOB Program, in conjunction with New York States’ Office of General Services (OGS) Service-Disabled, where we seek to utilize SDVOBs in our contracting and competitive-bidding processes. To become a certified SDVOB please visit the OGS SDVOB website (link at top left).

A Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Business is defined as the following:
A business enterprise, including a sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company or corporation that is at least fifty-one percent owned by one or more service-disabled veterans. Service-disabled veterans are:

• In the case of the United States army, navy, air force, marines, coast guard, army national guard or air national guard and/or reserves thereof, a veteran who received a compensation rating of ten percent or greater from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs or from the United States Department of Defense because of a service-connected disability incurred in the line of duty, and 
• In the case of the New York Guard or the New York Naval Militia and/or Reserves thereof, a veteran who certifies, pursuant to the rules and regulations promulgated by the Director, to having incurred an injury equivalent to compensation rating of ten percent or greater from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs or from the United States Department of Defense because of a serviced-connected disability incurred in the line of duty.

*  A firm must be certified by NYS OGS as a SDVOB before we can recognize them as a NYS-certified SDVOB vendor. However, lack of certification does not preclude a vendor from doing business with NYPA.

For additional information on Doing Business with the Authority as a MWBE or SDVOB vendor see our Supplier Diversity Guide.