The minimum requirements to qualify as a DBE under the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) Program are:
- Applicants, by a preponderance of evidence, must meets all requirements concerning group membership (or individual disadvantage), business size, ownership, and control as defined in the 49 C.F.R. 26 Subpart D;
- Fifty-one percent (51%) owned, capitalized, and controlled by one or more U.S. Citizens, or a legal resident (green card), who are socially and economically disadvantaged as defined below:
- Social Disadvantage means an individual who is a member of a presumed group or a woman;
- Economic Disadvantage means, in general terms, excluding the primary residence and ownership in the applicant firm, a socially disadvantage individual who does not have a personal net worth in excess of $1.32 million; (see FAQS below for additional information);
- Be a for-profit business, located in the United States, independently owned and operated by one or more disadvantaged individuals;
- Annual gross receipts, as defined by SBA regulations 13 CFR 121.402, averaged over previous three years, in excess of $23.98 million;
- The acquisition of fifty-one percent (51%) business ownership by disadvantaged individuals must be real, substantial, on- going, beyond pro forma, as reflected in the entity’s governing and/or ownership documents;
- A disadvantaged individual must holds the highest, executive office, be responsible for managing the firm’s day-to-day business and have a technical experience, in the firm’s primary business activity;
