Get certified; then bid for government contracts

The roles of minority businesses in this community are far reaching; they reflect the entrepreneurial nature of many minority communities, encourage self-sufficiency and provide stable jobs for a diverse work force.

Many minority businesses contract with the government to diversify and add stability to their client base.

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Governmental agencies encourage contracting with minority businesses through a variety of programs at the city, county and state levels.

The government will contract work for a variety of goods and services, including janitorial, construction, food and maintenance services, as well as furniture, uniforms and office supply products.

Since the government makes a concerted effort to work with certified businesses within targeted groups (such as minority- and women-owned businesses), it is worth it to go through the certification process.

The city of Madison has a minority business certification process to ensure that businesses receiving minority contracts are in fact minority-owned. In the city of Madison, a minority business must be "51 percent or more owned and controlled by racial/ethnic affirmative action group members."

Within the city of Madison, targeted business-contract goals are determined "by comparing the work areas listed in the architect's or engineer's cost estimates for the project with the goods and services provided by the current pool of certified targeted businesses."

This ensures that some percentage of the work being performed on contract for the city is being completed by targeted businesses.

However, it is important for minority (and other targeted) businesses to become certified because it will ultimately increase the percentage of contracts allocated to the targeted businesses.

Likewise, at the county level, minority businesses are among the enterprises that are pursued to "reach a balanced work force of protected group members throughout various job categories."

Dane County states that "it is the policy of Dane County to utilize to the fullest extent targeted business enterprises when contracting for any construction, purchase, furnishing or disposal of goods and services, or real property in order to ensure an equitable share of Dane County contracts." (Model Affir-mative Action Plan for Dane County Contractors).

The process required to become a certified minority business at the county level is similar to that at the city level.

The state of Wisconsin also provides opportunities for minority-owned businesses. Many of its available contracts are posted online in addition to information about becoming a certified minority business. To be eligible for the many contracts available through the state, minority businesses must be state-certified.

Becoming certified at the various governmental levels may seem daunting; however, there are several programs available to minority business owners to aid them in the certification, bidding and procurement processes.

One such program is being hosted by the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce and provides training in certification, bidding and procurement at the city, county, state and federal levels.

A program developed by the Madison Area Technical College Business Procurement Assistance Center also provides information about attaining governmental contracts for all, not just minority, businesses.

If you have already become certified and are looking for places to bid, there are Web sites such as VendorNet (http://vendornet.state.wi.us), that provide easy access to state, state agency and municipality contracts.