Am I eligible for DBE certification?
A firm (including its affiliates) must meet the requirements of 49 CFR part 26, Subpart D, concerning group membership or individual disadvantage, business size, ownership and control.
1. A firm must meet the federal requirements of 49 CFR Part 26, Subpart D. To be qualified as a Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) the for-profit small business must be 51% owned by a socially and economically disadvantage individual(s) who possess the power to direct or cause the direction of the management and policies of the firm and make day-to-day, as well as long-term decisions on matters of management policy and operations.
- Socially disadvantaged. The majority owner(s) must be a U.S. citizen or lawfully permitted permanent resident who are women, Black American, Hispanic American, Native American, Asian-Pacific American, Subcontinent Asian American.
- Economically disadvantaged. The majority owner(s) claiming social and economic disadvantaged, personal net worth (PNW) cannot exceed $1.32 million.
2. The firm (including affiliates) must be a small business as defined by Small Business Administration (SBA). The small business must meet the following size requirements.
- Average annual gross receipts for the previous 3 years cannot exceed $28.48 million.
- Average annual gross receipts for the previous 5 years cannot exceed the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code(s) size standard(s) based on the business’s primary work category.
