New York Laws
Article 15-A - Participation by Minority Group Members and Women With Respect to State Contracts
310 - Definitions.

(a) at least fifty-one percent owned by one or more minority group
members;
(b) an enterprise in which such minority ownership is real,
substantial and continuing;
(c) an enterprise in which such minority ownership has and exercises
the authority to control independently the day-to-day business decisions
of the enterprise;
(d) an enterprise authorized to do business in this state and
independently owned and operated;
(e) an enterprise owned by an individual or individuals, whose
ownership, control and operation are relied upon for certification, with
a personal net worth that does not exceed fifteen million dollars, and
such other amount as the director shall set forth in regulations, as
adjusted annually on the first of January for inflation according to the
consumer price index of the previous year; and
(f) an enterprise that is a small business pursuant to subdivision
twenty of this section.
8. "Minority group member" shall mean a United States citizen or
permanent resident noncitizen who is and can demonstrate membership in
one of the following groups:
(a) Black persons having origins in any of the Black African racial
groups;
(b) Hispanic/Latino persons of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Dominican,
Cuban, Central or South American of either Indian or Hispanic origin,
regardless of race;
(c) Native American or Alaskan native persons having origins in any of
the original peoples of North America.
(d) Asian and Pacific Islander persons having origins in any of the
Far East countries, South East Asia, the Indian subcontinent or the
Pacific Islands.
9. "Utilization plan" shall mean a plan prepared by a contractor and
submitted in connection with a proposed state contract. The utilization
plan shall identify certified minority or women-owned business
enterprises, if known, that have committed to perform work in connection
with the proposed state contract as well as any such enterprises, if
known, which the contractor intends to use in connection with the
contractor's performance of the proposed state contract. The plan shall
specifically contain a list, including the name, address and telephone
number, of each certified enterprise with which the contractor intends
to subcontract.
10. "Office" shall mean the division of minority and women's business
development in the department of economic development.
11. "State agency" shall mean (a) (i) any state department, or (ii)
any division, board, commission or bureau of any state department, or
(iii) the state university of New York and the city university of New
York, including all their constituent units except community colleges
and the independent institutions operating statutory or contract
colleges on behalf of the state, or (iv) a board, a majority of whose
members are appointed by the governor or who serve by virtue of being
state officers or employees as defined in subparagraph (i), (ii) or
(iii) of paragraph (i) of subdivision one of section seventy-three of
the public officers law:
(b) a "state authority," as defined in subdivision one of section two
of the public authorities law, and the following:
Albany County Airport Authority;
Albany Port District Commission;
Alfred, Almond, Hornellsville Sewer Authority;
Battery Park City Authority;
Cayuga County Water and Sewer Authority;
(c) the following only to the extent of state contracts entered into
for its own account or for the benefit of a state agency as defined in
paragraph (a) or (b) of this subdivision:
Dormitory Authority of the State of New York;
Facilities Development Corporation;
New York State Energy Research and Development Authority;
New York State Science and Technology Foundation.
12. "State assisted housing project" shall mean, for such projects
which receive from the New York state housing finance agency, the
affordable housing corporation, the housing trust fund corporation or
the division of housing and community renewal a grant or loan for all or
part of the total project cost:
(a) a "permanent housing project for homeless families" or "project"
as defined in subdivision five of section sixty-four of the private
housing finance law;
(b) a "project" as defined in subdivision twelve of section one
thousand one hundred one of the private housing finance law provided
said project is located in a large county and consists of more than
twelve residential units at a single site;
(c) "affordable home ownership development programs" or "project" as
defined in subdivision eight of section one thousand one hundred eleven
of the private housing finance law provided said project is located in a
metropolitan area as herein defined and consists of more than twelve
residential units at a single site;
(d) a "turnkey/enhanced rental project" or "project" as defined in
subdivision two of section one thousand one hundred six-a of the private
housing finance law;
(e) "infrastructure improvements" as defined in subdivision two of
section one thousand one hundred thirty-one of the private housing
finance law, to the extent that such "infrastructure improvements" are
applied for in connection with a state assisted housing project as
defined in paragraphs (a) through (d) of this subdivision and provided
further that the applicant for such infrastructure improvements and for
such state assisted housing project are identical.
13. "State contract" shall mean: (a) a written agreement or purchase
order instrument, providing for a total expenditure in excess of
twenty-five thousand dollars, whereby a contracting agency is committed
to expend or does expend funds in return for labor, services including
but not limited to legal, financial and other professional services,
supplies, equipment, materials or any combination of the foregoing, to
be performed for, on behalf of, or rendered or furnished to the
contracting agency; (b) a written agreement in excess of one hundred
thousand dollars whereby a contracting agency is committed to expend or
does expend funds for the acquisition, construction, demolition,
replacement, major repair or renovation of real property and
improvements thereon; and (c) a written agreement in excess of one
hundred thousand dollars whereby the owner of a state assisted housing
project is committed to expend or does expend funds for the acquisition,
construction, demolition, replacement, major repair or renovation of
real property and improvements thereon for such project.

14. "Subcontract" shall mean an agreement providing for a total
expenditure in excess of twenty-five thousand dollars for the
construction, demolition, replacement, major repair, renovation,
planning or design of real property and improvements thereon between a
contractor and any individual or business enterprise, including a sole
proprietorship, partnership, corporation, or not-for-profit corporation,
in which a portion of a contractor's obligation under a state contract
is undertaken or assumed, but shall not include any construction,
demolition, replacement, major repair, renovation, planning or design of
real property or improvements thereon for the beneficial use of the
contractor.
15. "Women-owned business enterprise" shall mean a business
enterprise, including a sole proprietorship, partnership, limited
liability company or corporation that is:
(a) at least fifty-one percent owned by one or more United States
citizens or permanent resident noncitizens who are women;
(b) an enterprise in which the ownership interest of such women is
real, substantial and continuing;
(c) an enterprise in which such women ownership has and exercises the
authority to control independently the day-to-day business decisions of
the enterprise;
(d) an enterprise authorized to do business in this state and
independently owned and operated;
(e) an enterprise owned by an individual or individuals, whose
ownership, control and operation are relied upon for certification, with
a personal net worth that does not exceed fifteen million dollars, and
such other amount as the director shall set forth in regulations, as
adjusted annually on the first of January for inflation according to the
consumer price index of the previous year; and
(f) an enterprise that is a small business pursuant to subdivision
twenty of this section.
A firm owned by a minority group member who is also a woman may be
certified as a minority-owned business enterprise, a women-owned
business enterprise, or both, and may be counted towards either a
minority-owned business enterprise goal or a women-owned business
enterprise goal, in regard to any contract or any goal, set by an agency
or authority, but such participation may not be counted towards both
such goals. Such an enterprise's participation in a contract may not be
divided between the minority-owned business enterprise goal and the
women-owned business enterprise goal.
16. "Statewide advocate" shall mean the person appointed by the
director to serve in the capacity of the minority and women-owned
business enterprise statewide advocate and procurement ombudsman.
17. "Commissioner" shall mean the commissioner of the department of
economic development.
18. "Lessee" shall mean an individual, a business enterprise,
including a sole proprietorship, a partnership, a corporation, a
not-for-profit corporation, or any other party to a lease with a state
agency as defined in subdivision eleven of this section, or a respondent
in conjunction with the award of such a lease or a proposed lessee with
a state agency as defined in subdivision eleven of this section.
19. "Personal net worth" shall mean the aggregate adjusted net value
of the assets of an individual remaining after total liabilities are
deducted. Personal net worth includes the individual's share of assets
held jointly with said individual's spouse and does not include the
individual's ownership interest in the certified minority and
women-owned business enterprise, the individual's equity in his or her
primary residence, ownership interest in a holding company established

for the exclusive and sole purpose of leasing machinery, equipment, or
vehicles exclusively to the certified minority or women-owned business
enterprise that is majority owned by the minority group member or woman
relied upon for certification, and the holding company does not own any
other assets of any kind, or up to seven hundred fifty thousand dollars
of the present cash value of any qualified retirement savings plan or
individual retirement account held by the individual less any penalties
for early withdrawal.
20. "Small business" as used in this section, unless otherwise
indicated, shall mean a business which has a significant business
presence in the state, is independently owned and operated, not dominant
in its field and employs, based on its industry, a certain number of
persons as determined by the director, but not to exceed three hundred,
taking into consideration factors which include, but are not limited to,
federal small business administration standards pursuant to 13 CFR part
121 and any amendments thereto. The director may issue regulations on
the construction of the terms in this definition.
21. "The disparity study" shall refer to the disparity study
commissioned by the department of economic development, pursuant to
section three hundred twelve-a of this article, and published on June
thirtieth, two thousand seventeen.
22. "Diversity practices" shall mean the contractor's practices and
policies with respect to:
(a) utilizing or mentoring certified minority and women-owned business
enterprises in contracts awarded by a state agency or other public
corporation, as subcontractors and suppliers; and
(b) entering into partnerships, joint ventures or other similar
arrangements with certified minority and women-owned business
enterprises as defined in this article or other applicable statute or
regulation governing an entity's utilization of minority or women-owned
business enterprises.
23. "Provisional MWBE Certification" shall mean minority and
women-owned business enterprise certification status which shall not
exceed one year, but which may be renewed by the director.
* NB Repealed December 31, 2024