Upon approval by the WRMSDC Board of Directors, you will receive an official certificate, certification number, and welcome letter via email. You may also request access to the WRMSDC list of Corporate Members, which contains the contact information for corporate buyers and Supplier Diversity professionals in our network. In addition, you will be able to attend MBE-only events and MBE Input Committee meetings and join the MBE LinkedIn Group. 

You may download the certified MBE logo pack from the certification portal once you have been certified. This logo is updated annually with the current year of certification.

While MBE certification is a value add, corporate buyers also evaluate potential suppliers based on their experience providing goods and services to Fortune 500 corporations or their prime suppliers, their broad geographic coverage, their capacity for growth, and many other requirements in addition to the certifications that they hold. Certification will NOT result in instant contracts. MBEs must do their due diligence in getting involved with Corporate Members in the WRMSDC network and proactively expanding their own business platform.

The certified MBEs that are most successful do not wait for contracts to fall into their laps and they do not lead with “I’m minority-owned” when meeting with corporate buyers. The most successful MBEs view certification as a tool in their tool chest, along with price, quality, and on-time delivery. Instead, they actively pursue business opportunities and impress corporate buyers with their demonstrated industry knowledge, experience, professionalism, and capacity. As one of our most prestigious Supplier Diversity Executives said at a WRMSDC training, “Certification is just the icing on the cake”—the final sales piece to seal the deal.

Active participation is crucial. WRMSDC suggests that new MBEs do the following to begin capitalizing on their status as certified MBEs:

Keep your profile up-to-date. Corporate Members search our supplier database like they would with any web search. Key words and concise, accurate information is the best way to position your company in the database.

Market Research. Identifying and targeting the top ten (10) Corporate Members with which you would like to do business is a great first step. Register for their Supplier Diversity databases through their websites, understand what they’re buying, and then reach out to their Supplier Diversity professionals with an introductory email detailing that you are registered in their database, your goods and services, a brief (one page) marketing piece about your company, and experience; this will help position your company for success.

Attend MBE Input Committee (MBEIC) meetings. The MBEIC is comprised of certified MBE representatives who provide counsel and recommendations so that programs and projects implemented by WRMSDC are relevant and supportive of minority business development. Additionally, the Council has created several subcommittees within the MBEIC to address various needs. MBEIC meetings are open to all certified MBEs.

Attend Council trainings, workshops, and our buyer and procurement events. Visit our events calendar  to view upcoming opportunities to network with Corporate Members and fellow MBEs. Our events calendar is updated weekly.

Email WRMSDC with your success stories. If you engage in MBE-to-MBE Spend or are doing business with a WRMSDC Corporate Member, we may give you free exposure in our newsletter.

Involvement with WRMSDC is a vital component of certification. We strongly encourage our MBEs to actively participate in events to facilitate relationship building with Corporate Members and other certified suppliers. Please visit our events calendar to learn more about our events throughout the year, including:

• Excellence in Supplier Diversity Awards Gala*
• Corporate-led Trainings
• Corporate Expectations Seminars
• Minority Business Opportunity Expo*
• MBE General Assemblies
• Networking Mixers
• Annual Meeting & Holiday Luncheon*

*Major Council events