Best Practices - Certification

The City of Houston's Office of Business Opportunity Certification team processes four (4) City of Houston certifications, which include Minority Business Enterprise (MBE), Women Business Enterprise (WBE), Small Business Enterprise (SBE), and Persons with Disabilities Business Enterprise (PDBE). Additionally, the team processes two federal certifications on behalf of the U.S. Department of Transportation: Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) and Airport Concessionaire Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (ACDBE).

To ensure timely processing of certification applications, Senior Business Development Coordinator Vanessa Aplon-Letson suggests the following:

-Attend the Pre-Certification Workshop for general knowledge of the program.

-Gather all documents [in digital form]on the checklist for certification business type ( SP, LLC, LP, or Corporation)

-Choose the correct business type - (SP, LP, LLC, or Corporation) so the application may draw the correct checklist

-Make sure your contact email address listed will receive notifications from the application system

-Section 3 of the application must be completed by ALL owners ( application will allow just one owner but it is required that all owners complete this section

-ALL owners must complete Affidavit of Non-Interest

To learn more about getting certified, call 832-393-0600, Option 1, or email obocertification@houstontx.gov.