Become Certified

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The Application Process

To apply for certification, you must submit either a Minority and Woman-owned Business Enterprise Application (MWBE) or a Small Business Enterprise Application (SBE), along with the required documentation, to the Office of Business Diversity and Civil Rights. Eligible MWBE and SBE firms are certified for a five-year period; however, we reserve the right to decertify any firm that no longer meets our guidelines. In addition, certified firms should notify this office of any significant changes to the business (i.e. change of officers, directors, location and corporate name, etc.) in writing within 30 days from the time the change(s) occurred. Failure to advise us of these changes can result in our removing your firm from our directory of certified MWBEs.

If you wish to be considered for MWBE certification with the Empire State Development, Division of Minority and Women’s Business Development (DMWBD), please submit the following documents with the respective supporting documents:

A completed Marketing Data Form should be submitted with the MWBE application. The information provided on this form is recorded into our database and included as an additional feature in the Directory of Minority and Woman-owned Business Enterprises. The directory provides Port Authority tenants, contractors, vendors and other government agencies with access to our certified MWBEs for participation in prime and subcontracting opportunities.

If you are already MWBE-certified with the Port Authority and the reevaluation date on your certificate is approaching, you must submit an MWBE Recertification Application to maintain your status.

The following forms, grouped by category, must be submitted with any M/WBE or SBE certification application.

All Applications	Marketing Data Form Create or update vendor profile
Architectural and Engineering Firms	Architectural & Engineering Specialty Form Professional Service Firm Questionnaire
Construction Firms	Construction Reference Sheet

To apply as a Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE), you must submit a DBE Application Package and a Statement of Personal Net Worth together with the required supporting documents to the address below. For detailed information on the DBE federal program, please visit U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization. Once certified, the firm is listed in the NYS Unified Certification Program (NYSUCP) or the NJS Unified Certification Program (NJSUCP) directory of Certified DBEs. DBEs are certified for a three-year period; however, an Annual No Change Affidavit and a Personal Financial Statement must be submitted to this office each year in order to remain an active DBE.

Register your business with the Port Authority's Procurement Department by creating a vendor profile. Once registered, your vendor profile will be available for notification of bid opportunities according to your commodity choices. When a need for a commodity or service arises, our buyers will notify the appropriate firms. This is also the place to ensure that your business profile contains accurate and updated information so that you can be reached.

Questions? E-mail us at certhelp@panynj.gov or call (212) 435-7808.

Submit your application(s) by mail to:

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
Office of Business Diversity and Civil Rights
233 Park Avenue South, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10003