MBE MEMBERSHIP. To qualify as a Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) Member, your company must represent a "selling interest" and meet the following criteria. Your company must:

• Be certifiable as a Minority Business Enterprise. This means you must be a legally organized, profit-making organization; at least 51 percent owned by and under the day-to-day guidance and control of an ethnic minority group member; and, be independent of (not affiliated with) non-minority firms.
• Report purchases that your firm makes from other minority-owned businesses (on a confidential basis) monthly to the TMSDC. (See MBE to MBE Purchasing Form)
• Participate in and support the TMSDC’s activities.
• Pay annual processing fee.

Minority business owners who are members of the TMSDC benefit from an affiliation with an organization that stands for quality and progress in minority business development. This is accomplished through several key programs:

• A highly respected certification process that recognizes excellence in business standards;
• Access to the Business Consortium Fund, a source for working capital loans to certified minority businesses;
• Business-building educational seminars, training and technical assistance;
• Listing on the MBISYS, a national database of more than 15,000 certified minority suppliers;
• Introductions to potential local, state and national corporate customers, specifically seeking to do business with minority firms.