Qualifications

In order to qualify for assistance, the business concern must be at least 50 percent owned, and controlled and managed by socially or economically disadvantaged individuals. 

In the absence of evidence to the contrary, the following groups of individuals are presumed to be socially disadvantaged:

Black Americans; Hispanic Americans; Native Americans (American Indians, Eskimos, Aleuts, or Native Hawaiians); Asian Pacific Americans (persons with origins from Burma, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei, Japan, China, Taiwan, Laos, Cambodia (Kampuchea), Vietnam, Korea, The Philippines, U.S. Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (Republic of Palau), Republic of the Marshall Islands, Federated of Micronesia, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, Samoa, Macao, Hong Kong, Fiji, Tonga, Kiribati, Tuvalu, or Nauru; Subcontinent Asian Americans (persons with origins from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, the Maldives Islands, or Nepal); and members of other groups designated from time to time by the Small Business Administration.  Veterans who served in the Armed Forces of the United States between August 5, 1964 and May 7, 1975, also qualify for assistance.

An individual seeking socially disadvantaged status as a member of a designated group, as listed above, may be required to demonstrate that he/she holds himself/herself out and is identified as a member of a designated group if SBA has reason to question such individual's status as a group member.

An individual who is not a member of one of the above-named designated groups must establish his/her individual social disadvantaged on the basis of and convincing evidence.  A clear and convincing case of social disadvantaged must include the following elements:

The individual's social disadvantage must stem from his or her color, ethnic origin, gender, physical handicap, long term residence in an environment isolated from the mainstream of American society, or other similar cause not common to small business persons who are not socially disadvantaged.  In determining whether other owners of small business concerns are socially or economically disadvantaged, reliance should not be placed upon a single factor, but on a composite of such factors as the social or economic background of the principal owners, controlling individuals and managers of the concern, along with the general pattern of their life, opportunities and education which have prevented them from obtaining financial or other assistance available to the average entrepreneur in the economic mainstream.   Consideration may be given to such factors as contribute to a disadvantage condition in the ordinary meaning of that word-lacking basic resources or conditions necessary to an equal position in society, as well as to such specific factors as:

1. Low income.
2. Unfavorable location, such as urban ghettos or depressed rural areas and areas of high unemployment or underemployment.
3. Limited education.
4. Physical or other handicap.
5. Inability to compete effectively in the marketplace because of prevailing or past restrictive practices.
6. Vietnam era service in the Armed Forces as defined above.

The above qualifications are not intended to imply that only members of minority groups are eligible for assistance, we are, hereby, making it clear that we will serve all individuals who are hampered in achieving full citizenship in our economic system by virtue of their social or economic disadvantages.  If you are not sure whether you qualify, please give us a call at (716)262-3440 to discuss your situation.

In order to qualify for assistance, a small business must meet the size standards which applies to size eligibility for SBA financial assistance.  If your business has more than 500 employees and assets in excess of $3.5 million, please obtain the definition for a small business concern from your local office of the Small Business Administration.