Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program

About the Program

Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) programs foster equal opportunity in all federally-funded Department of Transportation contracts including highway, transit and airport programs. MCDOT strives to ensure nondiscrimination in all of its programs and activities, whether those programs and activities are federally funded or not. As a sub-recipient of federal funding, MCDOT is responsible for complying with all federal and state regulations of the DBE program, including monitoring and reporting activities.

Guidelines

To be considered for DBE certification, a business must meet the following general guidelines:

• The business must be at least 51% owned by one or more socially and economically disadvantaged individuals. A socially disadvantaged individual is a citizen (or lawfully admitted permanent resident) who is a member of one of the following groups: Black American, Hispanic American, Native American, Asian-Pacific American, Subcontinent American, or Woman.
• The company must be an independent business, and one or more of the socially disadvantaged owners must control its management and daily operations.
• Only existing "for-profit" businesses may be certified. DBE applicants are subject to applicable small business size standards.
• The personal net worth (PNW) of each socially and economically disadvantaged owner must not exceed $1.32 million with regulatory exclusions.

Arizona Unified Transportation Registration & Certification System

Firms that qualify for DBE certification can use the Arizona Unified Transportation Registration and Certification System (AZ UTRACS) to register as a DBE in Arizona. The AZ UTRACS system also has a searchable database of DBE-certified companies throughout the state of Arizona and is used to report DBE utilization on federally-funded projects.