The Women's Business Council Gulf Coast (WBCGC) is an organization for women business owners interested in promoting, developing and maintaining business relationships with other women business owners, major corporations and governmental agencies. We are a non-profit organization with a mission to certify bona fide women-owned businesses and to promote the activities directed at the development, establishment, expansion and encouragement of businesses owned by women. The WBCGC is a certifying partner organization in the Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC.org). Through our affiliation with WBENC, our WBE certification process is a nationally recognized and accepted certification. WBE certification is required by numerous private sector companies and governmental agencies.
The Women's Business Council Gulf Coast includes numerous WBEs and corporate partners located in all regions of the states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida Panhandle.
Our Mission
The mission of the Women’s Business Council Gulf Coast is to advance and enhance business opportunities between women-owned businesses and corporations, to administer a reliable Women's Business Enterprise (WBE) certification program, to provide business development training programs for WBEs and to facilitate mutually beneficial procurement opportunities for WBEs and corporations on a local and national level.
WBE Membership Criteria
1. All prospective members must provide clear and documented evidence that at least 51% or more is women-owned, managed, and controlled.
2. The business must be open for at least six months.
3. The business owner must be a U.S. citizen or legal resident alien.
Evidence must indicate that:
· The contribution of capital and/or expertise by the woman business owner is real and substantial and in proportion to the interest owned.
· The woman business owner must direct or cause the direction of management, policy, fiscal, and operational matters.
· The woman business owner shall have the ability to perform in the area of specialty or expertise without reliance on either the finances or resources of a firm that is not owned by a woman.
The Women’s Business Council Gulf Coast maintains a stringent screening process which ensures that all firms in our membership are legitimately owned, managed, and controlled by women.
Through the Women’s Business Council Gulf Coast, your business can be certified as a nationally recognized Woman Business Enterprise (WBE). The WBCGC is affiliated with the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC). Once certified, your business is listed in the WBENC national database of WBEs that is accessed by hundreds of corporations throughout the United States. Many corporations require that you be certified before they will extend a contract to you as a WBE.
You may use the online application for certification. Read the application instructions and the listing of mandatory attachments you'll be required to submit before the WBCGC can process your application. For more information about the certification process, please contact our Certification Director at (504) 680-6497.
New Applicants
After you submit the required online application, you will receive an e-mail from WBENC instructing you to submit your documents, plus an non-refundable $300 processing fee to us at:
Women's Business Council Gulf Coast
Attn: LaKesha White, Director of Certification
400 Poydras Street, Suite 1730
New Orleans, LA 70130
Recertifications
All WBEs will be sent the recertification application via e-mail approximately two months before their expiration date. If you are due for a site visit, please have all documentation in at least a month and a half before your expiration date. If you are not sure whether you will need a site visit, you may contact LaKesha White at (504) 680-6497 for the status of your file. Remember, recertification is not automatic and the process may take approximately 30 – 60 days depending on whether a site visit is needed.
All documentation, along with the $200 fee, should be sent to the following address:
Women's Business Council Gulf Coast
Attn: LaKesha White, Director of Certification
400 Poydras Street, Suite 1730
New Orleans, LA 70130
Questions?
lakesha@wbcgulfcoast.org
Phone: (504) 680-6497
Fax: (504) 680-6412
