About Certification

One or more certifications provides your business an opportunity to bid on or partner with another contractor on the city’s projects that have goals established. Your business will be listed in our online certified vendor directory, which is used when agencies or primes are seeking certified firms to engage with on a contract to meet a project goal. In addition, you will have access to business development resources, mentoring, and networking that are reserved for certified firms. In short, certification opens up opportunity for you to grow and thrive.

That would depend on what type of work you are seeking to perform and which entities you wish to work with. If you are already applying for one certification and meet the requirements for others, it would be beneficial to apply for more than one at the same time. We also recommend that you ask your clients what certifications they recognize. We are glad to help you figure out which certifications make the most sense for your business.

All certifications are completed online. Start at https://denver.mwdbe.com/vendorstart.asp. If you are a first-time user, you must first create an account. 

Most of the communications that DSBO sends out comes from our Small Business Certification and Contract Management System, so please make sure to add denver@mwdbe.com to your safe sender list.

We recommend that you review the rules and regulations under its ordinance, gather all required documentation, attend a certification informational session, and ask questions before you start the application process. You have 90 days to complete an application once it has been started, or it will be purged from our system and you will have to start over.

Yes, there is an application processing fee to get certified through the local program. It is a $200 non-refundable fee for a new certification, and a $50 non-refundable fee annually for renewal of certifications. There is no fee for the DBE Program. 

For the federal DBE program, you simply need to be actively in business. However, for Denver’s local certifications, your firm must have been in business for six months or had sustained business activity for six months in the local marketplace.

Financial documents provide evidence that an applicant is conducting the business as described in its application. Documents such as tax returns are used collectively to verify the eligibility of the business, ownership, management, and control by the owners. Our certification process does not evaluate the profitability or financial viability of your business.