When your business becomes certified with the OMWBE, your assigned NAICS codes and approved business description will be listed in our Certified Business Directory. Entities looking for certified firms use this database to find businesses that have the NAICS codes and business description that match the goods and services they want to contract for or buy. NAICS codes are defined by the United States Census Bureau.

Your certification application will ask you what NAICS codes and business description you would like to request. Please be as specific and accurate as possible when writing your business description.

How do I look up NAICS Codes?

Here are some tips on searching for specific industry NAICS codes.

• Visit https://www.census.gov/naics/
• Under 'Reference Files' click on '2022 NAICS'
• Look through the 2-digit industry categories. Each category contains more specific 6-digit NAICS codes.
• Using category '23 Construction' as an example, you will see 6-digit codes such as '236210 Industrial Building Construction'. Relevant 6-digit NAICS codes will be assigned to your business profile.
• The text next to every NAICS code is called the 'Index Description'.

What does this mean for Certification?

OMWBE assigns 6-digit NAICS codes according to the business description, professional licenses, verified training, resumes, and invoices/contracts that you submit to OMWBE. When you apply to get certified, please use keywords in your business description that are specific to your business. Review your scope of work and write accurately so that your business can be found by keyword search.

You can use the Index Descriptions associated with your requested 6-digit NAICS codes (see above) to help identify keywords, and add or modify details as needed. Try looking up the business descriptions of other firms that perform similar work, which are listed in our public Certified Business Directory.

After submitting your application, a certification analyst will help you finalize your business description.