Minority Owned Business Enterprise or MBEs is a category of diverse business that is defined as a business which is at least 51% owned, operated and controlled on a daily basis by one or more (in combination) American citizens of the following ethnic minority classifications:

MBE's can be self identified, but are typically certified by a city, state or federal agency. The predominant certifier for minority businesses is the National Minority Supplier Development Council with its 35-40 regional affiliates.

 
Purpose:

Many MBE's believe that the benefit of being an MBE is acquisition of contracts via government mandated MBE requirements, but that would be a shallow view of the MBE status. The purpose of the MBE designation is to partner with larger firms to gain access to the resources that most MBE's do not have access to.

We can learn by asking, the right questions of the right people. Many successful organizations, companies and others are extremely committed to helping Diverse Businesses achieve success.
They are more than ready and willing to offer their assistance to help you succeed.

We have to be open to learning from all knowlegable sources the lessons we need in order to achieve optimum success.