Last updated · ApTask
What is a Minority Business Enterprise (MBE)?
The National Minority Supplier Development Council defines an MBE as a for-profit business at least 51% owned, operated and controlled by one or more U.S. citizens who identify as Asian-Indian, Asian-Pacific, Black, Hispanic or Native American. Ownership must be real, substantial and continuing, with actual authority over the business.
The full definition is on the NMSDC website (external source). NMSDC’s standard also requires the minority owner to serve as President or CEO where those positions exist and to be active in daily management.
ApTask is a certified MBE with NMSDC and its regional council NY/NJ-MSDC — see our certifications.
How does a business get MBE certified?
The business applies to NMSDC through its regional affiliate council, uploads ownership, governance and financial documents, and completes a site visit. Reviewers confirm that minority owners hold at least 51% of the equity and actually control the business. Certified firms then recertify, providing updated financial and tax documents.
NMSDC describes the application, documentation and site-visit process on its certifications page (external source). Procurement teams should confirm a supplier’s certification is current before counting spend — a lapsed certificate does not count.
Why do Fortune 2000 buyers use MBE-certified suppliers?
Many large enterprises run supplier-diversity programs that track how much spend goes to certified diverse suppliers, and they rely on third-party certification rather than self-declaration to verify it. Staffing is a large, recurring spend category, so an MBE-certified staffing partner lets that spend count without changing how talent is sourced.
Certification is a verification, not a preference. NMSDC itself states that MBE certification is an ownership-based eligibility designation and does not guarantee contracts or confer procurement preferences (NMSDC (external source)). The supplier still has to win on quality, speed and price.
See MBE-certified staffing for how ApTask reports diversity spend at the placement level.
What is the difference between Tier 1 and Tier 2 diversity spend?
Tier 1 spend is money an enterprise pays directly to a certified diverse supplier. Tier 2 spend is money its prime suppliers pass on to certified diverse subcontractors, which the prime reports back to the enterprise. When an enterprise contracts directly with an MBE-certified staffing firm, that spend is Tier 1.
Staffing often flows through a managed service provider (MSP) and a vendor management system (VMS). In those programs, confirm with the MSP how spend with each certified supplier is attributed and reported, so it lands in the right tier — see VMS / MSP Specialization.
What should procurement ask an MBE-certified staffing supplier?
Ask for the current certification letter and its expiry date, which council issued it, and whether the certified entity is the one that will sign the contract and invoice you. Then ask how the supplier reports diverse spend by placement, and test it on quality, speed and price like any other supplier.
- Certificate: current NMSDC (or regional council) letter with effective and expiry dates.
- Entity match: the certified legal entity is the one on the MSA and the invoices.
- Reporting: spend reported per placement, per period, in the format your program uses.
- Delivery: the same service levels you require of every supplier — certification never replaces them.
ApTask can share its current NMSDC certificate and supplier documents on request — see certifications and contact.
How does MBE certification help an ApTask franchisee?
An ApTask franchisee sells under ApTask’s brand and contracts, so placements the franchise makes are delivered by an NMSDC-certified MBE. For a client with a supplier-diversity program, that means the franchisee’s placements count as Tier 1 MBE spend — a credential a brand-new independent agency could not offer.
Combined with a dedicated list of five Fortune 2000 accounts, that is the “MBE leverage” described on the ApTask Franchise page. The ApTask Franchise requires a minimum of five years of sales or business-development experience at a staffing company, a software company (such as Salesforce, ServiceNow or Oracle) or a consulting firm (such as EY, KPMG or Accenture).