Hillsborough County expands its Minority and Small Business Enterprise Division

FL News - Published May 02, 2022

Hillsborough County has expanded the eligiblity requirements for its Minority/Small Business Enterprise (MBE/SBE) programs. The expansion was made in hopes of increasing the number of businesses participating in the programs.

The SBE program has been expanded to include qualifying businesses in the adjacent counties of Pinellas, Pasco, and Hernando. In addition, the maximum number of permanent full-time employees for an SBE has been expanded to 50, and the maximum gross annual sales has been expanded to $8 million for construction businesses and $5 million for other types of businesses.

The MBE program has been expanded by raising the business net worth cap to $5 million for construction firms and $4 million for all other firms, and raising the employee cap to 50 or fewer permanent full-time employees averaged over the last two years.

Additionally, both programs now require at least 50 percent of work contracted to a given MBE or SBE to be performed by that MBE or SBE's workforce, as a measure to prevent "pass-through" of work.

Read the press release from the county at https://www.hillsboroughcounty.org/en/media-center/press-releases/2022/04/12/minority-small-business-enterprises-division-expands-to-help-more-businesses.