The Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) Office of Small and Minority Business Policy has scheduled two free Small Business Enterprise (SBE) certification workshops and SBE contracting opportunities information sessions for 2020.

The workshops and sessions will be held from 9 a.m. to noon on Tuesday, January 21, 2020 and Tuesday, July 21, 2020 at MDOT headquarters, 7201 Corporate Center Dr. in Hanover. Participating agencies include MDOT State Highway Administration (MDOT SHA), MDOT Maryland Transit Administration (MDOT MTA) and MDOT Maryland Aviation Administration (MDOT MAA).

The SBE program is race and gender neutral and designed to provide contracting opportunities to small businesses on federally aided projects with MDOT SHA, MDOT MTA and MDOT MAA. The program is intended to facilitate competition, eliminate obstacles and increase opportunities for small businesses, including Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBEs), to participate as prime contractors on MDOT federally aided contracts.

All MDOT DBE certified firms are automatically certified as SBE. All other firms that meet the eligibility requirements must apply to MDOT’s Office of Minority Business Enterprise for SBE status. For more information on MDOT certifications and other resources, visit our website at www.mdot.maryland.gov/certify .

In an effort to reach out to Hispanic-owned businesses, the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) is offering a free Application Assistance Workshop for certification as a Minority Business Enterprise (MBE), Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE), Airport Concessions Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (ACDBE) and/or Small Business Enterprise (SBE).

The workshop is part of the Hogan Administration’s “Maryland is Open for Business” initiative, and it will cover the application and investigation process, core eligibility standards and the benefits of the certification process. MDOT is partnering with the Alliance for Hispanic Commercial Contractors (AHCC) for this session. This Spanish-only workshop will be held on February 19, 2020 from 10:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.at MDOT Headquarters, 7201 Corporate Center Dr., Hanover, MD 21076.

In fiscal 2016-2018, Maryland awarded more than $439 million in contracts to MDOT-certified Hispanic American-owned businesses. There are 746 Hispanic American-owned businesses in MDOT’s online directory of certified MBE, DBE, ACDBE, and SBE firms.

For more information, contact Vanessa Lopez at 443-324-6854 or Denise Merritt at 410-865-1380. If you are interested in attending the workshops, please RSVP at https://bit.ly/33rUxYn

Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) will be hosting an Outreach and Networking Event on March 11, 2020, at our Lanham Building. This will be an opportunity to gain access to important industry information, attend various informational workshops and network with other great attendees.

Some of the attendees of this event consist of representatives from the Governor's Office of Small, Minority & Women Business Affairs, The Maryland Department of Transportation Office of Small and Minority Business Policy, Various Financial Institutions, General Contractors, Small, Minority, and Veteran Owned Businesses.

In addition, DHCD's Project Managers, Procurement Officers, and Business Lending representatives will be available to share important information about doing business with DHCD, gaining business capital, business lending and the many other various programs DHCD has to offer.

Registration will open January 6, 2020

BWI Marshall is all about Business…Come and Meet BWI Prime Contractors! They will be there to meet with you!

To register: please call 410-859-7834 or email Lbudzynski@bwiairport.com