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The Office of Certification administers the Colorado Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) Certification Program. This certification process determines the eligibility of minority and women owned businesses to participate as DBEs on projects for the Colorado Department of Transportation, Regional Transportation District and the Denver Water Board.
In the past, SBA managed the Small Disadvantaged Business Certification (SDB) program, which allowed business owners to certify their businesses as disadvantaged in order to compete for certain federal contracting opportunities. The SBA SDB certification program was discontinued on October 1, 2008, and replaced with the self-certification SDB process. Evaluation credits available to prime contractors boost subcontracting opportunities for SDBs. Under federal procurement regulations, SDBs participate in federal procurements aimed at overcoming the effects of discrimination. A firm may self-certify if it meets specific social, economic, ownership, and control eligibility criteria. Once certified, the firm is added to an online registry of SDB-certified firms maintained in the Dynamic Small Business Search. Contracting officers and large business prime contractors may search this online registry for potential contractors and service suppliers. Visit www.sba.gov.
The 8(a) program assists the development of small firms owned and operated by individuals who are both socially and economically disadvantaged. By extending government contract preferences and other business development support, it helps these firms gain access to the economic mainstream. Typically a small business must have been in operation for at least two years before applying to this program. Contact the SBA’s Colorado District Office for more information.
The US Small Business Administration plays an important role as the coordinating agency for the SBIR program. It directs the 11 agencies’ implementation of SBIR, reviews their progress, and reports annually to Congress on its operation. SBA is also the information link to SBIR. SBA collects solicitation information from all participating agencies and publishes it quarterly in a Pre-Solicitation Announcement (PSA). The PSA is a single source for the topics and anticipated release and closing dates for each agency’s solicitations. For more information 11 agencies’ implementation of SBIR, reviews their progress, and reports annually to Congress on its operation. SBA is also the information link to SBIR. SBA collects solicitation information from all participating agencies and publishes it quarterly in a Pre-Solicitation Announcement (PSA). The PSA is a single source for the topics and anticipated release and closing dates for each agency’s solicitations. For more information on the SBIR Program, please visit http://www.sbir.gov.
The Colorado Association for Manufacturing and Technology (CAMT) is a statewide manufacturing assistance center, partially funded by the NIST Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) and hosted by the University of Colorado. CAMT encourages the global competitiveness of Colorado manufacturers through on-site technical assistance and support, collaboration-focused industry programs, and leveraging government, university and economic development partnerships.
This office provides business owners with the permitting requirements under various environmental compliance programs. For more information call the Colorado Department of Public Health’s Technical Assistance line.
Colorado Business Development Foundation
info@coloradobdf.org
www.coloradobdf.org
Small Business Navigator Hotline: 303-592-5920
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All information within this resource book and website is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be legal, tax, business or other professional advice. It is current to the best of our knowledge as of the date of publication. You should contact an appropriate professional to discuss any issue particular to you or your business and only rely upon your own research into those issues. Use of and access to this resource book or the associated website does not create any relationship between the publisher, authors, and the reader, or any other individual or entity. TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAWS, THE MATERIALS AND INFORMATION IN THIS RESOURCE BOOK AND WEBSITE ARE DISTRIBUTED ON AN "AS IS" BASIS WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, WARRANTY OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
