DBE

1. at least 51 percent owned by one or more individuals who are both socially and economically disadvantaged; and
2. whose management and daily business operations are controlled by one or more of the socially and economically disadvantaged individuals who own it.

• ensure nondiscrimination in the award and administration of federal-aid contracts
• create a level playing field on which DBEs can compete fairly for federal-aid contracts
• ensure that the Department's DBE program is narrowly tailored
• ensure that only firms that fully meet the eligibility standards are permitted to participate as DBEs
• help remove barriers to participation of DBEs in federal-aid contracts
• assist in the development of firms that can compete successfully in the marketplace outside the DBE program.

(a) found to be socially and economically disadvantaged on a case-by-case basis.

(b) Individuals in the following groups, of which are rebuttably presumed to be socially and economically disadvantaged:

• Black Americans, which includes persons having origins in any of the Black racial groups of Africa
• Hispanic Americans, which includes persons of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Dominican, Central or South American, or other Spanish or Portuguese culture or origin, regardless of race
• Native Americans, which includes persons who are American Indians, Eskimos, Aleuts or Native Hawaiians
• Asian-Pacific Americans, which includes persons who origins are from Japan, China, Taiwan, Korea, Burma (Myanmar), Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia (Kampuchea), Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Brunei, Samoa, Guam, the US Trust Territories of the Pacific Islands (Republic of Palau), the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Island, Macao, Fiji, Tonga, Kirbati, Juvalu, Nauru, Federated States of Micronesia, or Hong Kong.
• Subcontinent Asian Americans, which includes persons whose origins are from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Maldives Islands, Nepal or Sri Lanka
• Women
• Any additional groups whose members are designated as socially and economically disadvantaged by the SBA, at such time as the SBA designation becomes effective.

https://www.sba.gov/document/support-table-size-standards

There has been an increased number of projects with specified DBE goals.  Due to that fact, one of the main items discussed during the DBE portion of the webinar was the Good Faith Effort (GFE) requirements.

Good Faith Effort (GFE) is defined as: “Efforts to achieve a DBE goal which; by their scope, intensity, and appropriateness to the objective; can reasonably be expected to meet the objective of the Department’s DBE program pursuant to 49 CFR 26.1.”

DBE Special Provision (provisions can be found below) gives more detailed information.  Below is the basic information and important reminders.   

All prime contractors who do not meet or exceed the DBE goal are required to submit GFE documents within two days following notification from the Bid Letting Engineer.  Typically, this is two days following the letting.  Below are the required documents to include when submitting the GFE Package:

1.) Submit a contact log of all solicitation efforts (see Contact Log Template below): 

1. Timeframe for contacting DBEs
   1. DBEs on the plan holders list:
      1. At least 7 calendar days prior to letting
   2. Contacting by mail:
      1. At least 6 calendar days prior to letting
   3. Contacting by email, phone, fax
      1. At least 5 calendar days prior to letting
2. If there is no positive contact, a second solicitation must be made by phone, fax, or email at least 2 business days prior to letting.

1. Select work items to encourage DBE participation.
2. Solicit all DBEs listed in the work classification and geographic area.
3. Solicit all DBEs on the plan holders list in a timely manner.
4. Follow up with all DBEs if there was no positive contact.
5. Answer any questions that DBEs have about the project.
6. If you reject a DBEs quote, include a detailed explanation.

1. Include all quotes received.
2. Provide quote comparison document typically a spreadsheet format with each quote broken down by bid items.  (See example of a quote comparison below).

4.) Explain why goal couldn't be met.

5.) Note additional efforts made to secure DBE participation.

Some other key points to remember:

• Be sure to reach out to all sub-contractors to see if any subcontractors are utilizing DBEs. It’s important to list those DBEs that subcontractors may be using on the DBE commitment form when submitting your bid. DBEs that subcontractors may use need to be contacted per the requirements in A.
• Must solicit all eligible DBEs even if normally the supplier would be supplying a subcontractor. 
• Solicit for the entire project for all eligible work groups and appropriate geographic area. 
• Be detailed in your narrative to explain why the goal couldn’t be met and what extra efforts were made. 
• It’s important to submit all the required GFE documents when requested.  The DBE GFE committee can only consider what is submitted.
• Continued solicitation of DBEs following the letting is encouraged but any DBE participation that is not on the DBE Commitment form or obtained “after-the-fact” does not count towards a GFE effort determination. 
• DBEs who may be considered competitors are still required to be solicited and consideration is to be given to any quotes received.

Forms and Documents: 

Contact Log Template.xlsx

DBE SPECIAL PROVISION (20240209).PDF

Quote Comparison.pdf

If you have additional questions, please contact Kyle Watkins, DBE Coordinator below. 

DBE Directory - PDF File

DBE Directory - EXCEL File

DBE Directory Changes

DBE's noted by Region or Area, please refer to this map for location.

• Form 289 - Certification of DBE Payments
• Interstate Application Affidavit
• Unified Certification Program Agreement
• Uniform Certification Application
• Personal Net Worth Statement
• Race Neutral DBE Assurance and Intended DBE Participation - Form 289R/N
• Race Conscious DBE Assurance and Intended DBE Participation - Form 289R/C
• DBE Notification of Intent to Subcontract - Form 289B
• Annual Affidavit - South Dakota firms
• Annual Affidavit - Out-of-State firms
• Business Development Program Plan
• SD Interstate Application Process

• DBE Program Plan
• DBE Directory PDF
• DBE Directory XLS
• DBE Directory Changes
• DBE Special Provision
• Application Procedures and Policy Guidelines - In-State
• Application Procedures and Policy Guidelines - Out-of-State
• Goal Methodology
• DBE Policy Statement
• Interstate Certification
• 49 CFR 26 Participation by DBE's in DOT Programs
• 49 CFR 23 Participation by DBE's in Airport Concessions
• SD Interstate Application Process