N.J. Admin. Code § 17:46-1.3 - Standards of certification for minority businesses and women's businesses

(a) A business may be eligible to be certified as a minority business, a women's business, or both.

(b) In order to be eligible as a minority business, a business must be a sole proprietorship, partnership, joint venture, corporation, or other business entity authorized under the laws of the United States, which is at least 51 percent owned, operated, and controlled by persons who are Black, Hispanic, Asian American, American Indian, or Alaskan native.

(c) In order to be eligible as a women's business, a business must be a sole proprietorship, partnership, joint venture, corporation, or other business entity authorized under the laws of the United States, which is at least 51 percent owned, operated, and controlled by persons who are women, without regard to race.

(d) In order to be eligible to be certified under the Act, a minority or women's business must be independently owned, operated, and controlled and can demonstrate the ability to be considered a "going concern," as in the business has sufficient resources needed to continue operating indefinitely by normal industry standards. A business shall meet the following standards to be certified as a minority business or women's business:

1. Ownership: A business shall be deemed to be independently owned, operated, and controlled, if its management, as specified in its certification application, is responsible for both its daily and long-term operation, and that management owns at least 51 percent interest in the business. The ownership and control by minorities or women shall be real, substantial, and continuing, demonstrating authority over the affairs of the business, and shall go beyond the pro forma ownership of the business as reflected in its ownership documents;

2. Business Entity: Recognition of the business as a separate entity for tax or corporate purposes is not necessarily sufficient for recognition as a minority business or women's business. In determining whether a potential minority business or women's business is an independent business, all relevant factors shall be considered, including the date the business was established and the degree to which financial, equipment leasing, and other relationships with non-minority and non-women businesses vary from industry practice; and

3. Licensing: When a professional or occupational license or certification is required by Federal or State law to perform the primary business operations of the applicant business, and the woman owner in the case of a women's business or the minority owner in the case of a minority business does not possess the applicable license or certification, the woman or minority owner shall demonstrate competence in the affairs of the business in order to satisfy the requirement for managerial and operational control.

Notes

N.J. Admin. Code § 17:46-1.3

Amended by 52 N.J.R. 2181(b), effective 12/21/2020