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The Emerging Business Enterprise (EBE) Certification Program works to ensure that businesses owned, operated, and controlled by individuals who are socially and economically disadvantaged receive preference for contracting opportunities with New York City. The program is designed to promote fairness and equity in city contracting and to level the playing field for these business owners.
Certified businesses obtain greater access to, and information about, contracting opportunities through classes, networking events, and targeted solicitations. They receive technical assistance to better compete for contracts, and benefit from inclusion in the City's Online Directory Of Certified Businesses, which promotes EBE-certified businesses to purchasers.
To be eligible for EBE Certification, a business must be:
- A Sole Proprietorship, General Partnership, Limited Partnership, Limited Liability Partnership, Limited Liability Company, or Corporation. Nonprofit organizations are not eligible for EBE certification.
- Authorized to do business in New York State.
- At least 51% owned, operated, and controlled by persons who can demonstrate social and economic disadvantage, and who have experienced chronic and substantial negative treatment in the United States. The persons' ability to compete must have been impaired due to diminished access to capital and credit, and the net worth of each socially and economically disadvantaged owner must be less than $1 million.
An eligible business also must have:
- Been selling products or services for a period of at least one year prior to the date of application.
- A real and substantial presence in the geographic market of New York City, which includes the five boroughs of New York City and the following counties: Nassau, Putnam, Rockland, Suffolk, and Westchester in New York, and Bergen, Hudson, and Passaic in New Jersey. Businesses located outside of New York City must have a significant tie to the City's business community. Examples of such ties include having derived 25% or more of gross receipts from business conducted in the City, or possession of a license issued by the City.