Minority Business Information   

The West Virginia Purchasing Division welcomes minority businesses to participate in the competitive-purchasing process within state government.  To get started, we encourage businesses to become registered with our agency so you are aware of upcoming bid opportunities.

Below are some laws that you may find of interest:

West Virginia State Code §5A-3-37:  Resident Vendor Preference

West Virginia State Code §5A-3-37(a)(5) & (6):  Veterans' Preference

West Virginia State Code §5A-3-37(a)(7) and §5A-3-59:  Small, Women- and Minority-owned Business Certification

To learn more about our vendor registration process, please visit www.state.wv.us/admin/purchase/VendorReg.html.  In addition, to learn more about the State of West Virginia's competitive-bid process and the role of SWAM Certification, please review the presentation Business with West Virginia, available by clicking the slide to the left, presented by the Purchasing Division at events such as the 2018 Minority Business Expo in Charleston.

At this webpage, you will learn more about the requirements of a Vendor Registration & Disclosure Statement and Small, Women, & Minority-Owned Business Certification (WV-1 or WV-1A) form, which is available online at www.state.wv.us/admin/purchase/forms.html.  As part of this registration process, West Virginia Code §5A-3-59 created the Small, Women-, and Minority-Owned Businesses (SWAM) Certification which is now part of our vendor registration process.  As a result, vendors may apply to become certified if they fall within the business categories defining a small, women-, and minority-owned business.  One of these business categories is minority-owned businesses and requires these vendors to re-certify every two years to continue compliance, as defined in West Virginia Code of State Rules §148-2-1 et seq.

In accordance with West Virginia State Code §5A-3-59, the definition of minority-owned businesses are noted below:

Minority-owned Business, which means a business that is at least fifty-one percent owned by one or more minority individuals or in the case of a corporation, partnership, or limited liability company or other entity, at least fifty-one percent of the equity ownership interest in the corporation, partnership, or limited liability company or other entity is owned by one or more minority individuals and both the management and daily business operations are controlled by one or more minority individuals.

A “minority individual” means an individual who is a citizen of the United States or a noncitizen who is in full compliance with United States immigration law and who satisfies one or more of the following definitions:

African American means a person having origins in any of the original peoples of Africa and who is regarded as such by the community of which this person claims to be a part.

Asian American means a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent or the Pacific Islands, including, but not limited to, Japan, China, Vietnam, Samoa, Laos, Cambodia, Taiwan, Northern Mariana, the Philippines, a U.S. territory of the Pacific, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, or Sri Lanka and who is regarded as such by the community of which this person claims to be a part.

Hispanic American means a person having origins in any of the Spanish-speaking peoples of Mexico, South or Central America, or the Caribbean Islands or other Spanish or Portuguese cultures and who is regarded as such by the community of which this person claims to be a part.

Native American means a person having origins in any of the original peoples of North America and who is regarded as such by the community of which this person claims to be a part or who is recognized by a tribal organization.

To learn more about the competitive purchasing process, you are encouraged to review the Vendor Procurement Guide at www.state.wv.us/admin/purchase/vrc/VPG.

Bid opportunities are advertised weekly in the West Virginia Purchasing Bulletin and available online through the Vendor Self-Service portal at wvOASIS.gov.

Hard copies of currently-advertised bid packages may be requested at www.state.wv.us/admin/purchase/getrfq.htm.

The Purchasing Division has centralized all information for vendors wishing to do business with the state in one place.  The Vendor Resource Center includes much of the information noted above as well as training opportunities such as our online vendor resource modules, our agency procurement officer listing, bids received page, terms and conditions, and our forms.  The Vendor Resource Center is located at http://www.state.wv.us/admin/purchase/vrc.

We welcome all businesses to participate in our competitive-bidding process!