Women’s Business Enterprise (WBE) Certification is a valuable tool to help women-owned businesses secure additional contracts and business that they might not have otherwise secured. Despite a rigorous application process, occasionally someone discovers that a WBE is not legitimately women-owned and controlled.

If you suspect that a WBE certified through WBENC is not truly women owned and/or controlled, you can challenge the certification and maintain the confidentiality of your identity.

According to WBENC’s Standards and Procedures, a certification challenge must meet the following criteria to be considered:

1. Be in writing;
2. Be addressed to the Executive Director or President of the Regional Partner Organization (RPO) that certified the company; and
3. Include evidence challenging the WBE’s eligibility.

Next, the Executive Director or President of the RPO will determine, based on your submission, whether there is reason to evaluate the challenge further.

If they deem your challenge not credible, they will inform you in writing and the challenge will be closed. If you disagree, you can appeal that decision to the WBENC Board of Directors.

If your challenge is deemed credible, the RPO will notify the WBE that it is being challenged, with a summary of the reasons. The WBE then must provide information and/or documentation to refute the challenge, and the Executive Director or President will inform both the WBE and the challenging party, in writing, of the preliminary determination and provide the reasons. There may be an opportunity for hearing, and then a final determination will be made. Again, both parties are notified in writing of the decision, which may be appealed to WBENC.

From experience, the more detail your challenge provides and the more supporting evidence, the better your chances are of succeeding. It is not enough to simply say that you suspect the woman is not running the business. If such a challenge is important to you and/or your business, you may want to seek professional assistance in preparing your challenge materials.