LGBTQ+ small businesses across Washington can now get certified through a new program designed to help them grow and secure contracts with state agencies.
In partnership with Gov. Bob Ferguson and the Office of Minority and Women's Business Enterprises, the LGBTQ Business Enterprise program launched July 1 and offers free certification.
“Washington state has a thriving, diverse business community, Ferguson said in a news release. "This program ensures we are recognizing and supporting our LGBTQ business owners.”
The main benefit of the certification is visibility, said Tim Kenney, communications director for the Office of Minority and Women's Business Enterprises. All businesses certified through the office appear in a public directory where state agencies, education organizations and local governments are encouraged to work with them, he said.
The governor's office highlighted Washington as one of the first states to launch programming focused specifically on LGBTQ+ businesses. Massachusetts and Pennsylvania have statewide executive orders promoting inclusion of LGBTQ+-owned businesses in government contracts. California Public Utilities has a similar policy.
Kimberly Harden, founder and CEO of Harden Consulting Group in Federal Way, certified her business July 30. She wanted to get certified because LGBTQ+ businesses are "undervalued and under attack," she said, amid President Donald Trump's administration rolling back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives across the county.
Harden's business, a workplace culture strategy company, hasn't yet seen any benefits of the certification, but she said it publicly affirms who they are as an organization and shows they aren't ashamed to be LGBTQ+ owned.
"(The certification) allows me to show clients that I'm here, I'm not going anywhere, and they have the choice to work with us or not," Harden said.
The Office of Minority and Women's Business Enterprises secured $300,000 in state funding to create the LGBTQ+ small business certification in the 2023-2025 operating budget.
The office has certified minority- and women-owned businesses since 1983, according to its website. Adding LGBTQ+ businesses to the certification process "expands that focus to include another underrecognized community.
To qualify for certification, LGBTQ+ small businesses must be for profit and properly licensed in Washington. LGBTQ+ people must also own at least 51% of the business, control daily operations and be below a certain personal net worth threshold.
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