The Unified Certification Program is coming!
You've been hearing the term, but do you know what the Unified Certification
Program (UCP) is all about? The purpose of the UCP is to provide "one-stop
shopping" to applicants for certification so that an applicant need only
apply once for a Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) certification that
will be honored by all recipients in the state. In the past, a firm would be
required to apply for certification as a DBE with each agency with which the
firm wanted to work. Now the firm applies one time with the North Carolina Department
of Transportation (NCDOT), and if approved, that certification is shared by
all recipients in the state who receive funds from any USDOT operating administration,
including Federal Transit Administration (FTA), Federal Highway Administration
(FHWA), and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). This includes some 37 municipalities
and counties, 11 airport authorities, and 18 municipalities with local transit
systems here in the state that receive federal funding and who are obliged to
comply with the UCP. This program also includes the creation of a statewide
directory, allowing for a central database of qualified DBEs. For more information
about the UCP, to obtain a listing of all recipients under the UCP, or to obtain
the DBE certification application go to http://www.ncdot.org/business/ocr/dbe/certification.html.