Mission Statement
The Oregon Department of Transportation encourages having Emerging Small Businesses on ODOT contracts. The Emerging Small Business (ESB) Program serves to help Oregon’s small business community overcome barriers to participation in the state’s multi-billion dollar public contracting process. This program helps small Oregon firms increase their capacities to perform and bid on contracts, and then expand their market shares. The Emerging Small Business Program's policy is not to discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex and/or national origin when awarding and administering contracts.
What is an Emerging Small Business firm?
To qualify as an Emerging Small Business, a business must:
- Have its principal place of business located in Oregon;
- Be an independent business and not a subsidiary of a larger firm;
- Be properly licensed and legally registered in the state of Oregon;
- Have average annual gross receipts from the last three years in either of two tiers:
- Tier I -
- Not exceeding $2,499,109.91 for construction firms and $999,643.61 for non-construction firms.
- Having 19 employees or less.
- Tier II -
- Not exceeding $4,998,220.95 for construction firms and $1,666,073.09 for non-construction.
- Having 29 employees or less.
The current statute allows a firm to be in the Emerging Small Business program for a maximum of 12 years. If a firm meets the criteria for being an Emerging Small Business, the firm can become certified as an Emerging Small Business. Certification is done through the
Certification Office for Business Inclusion and Diversity (COBID).
The Emerging Small Business program has several millions of dollars worth of contracts, throughout the five Oregon Department of Transportation regions, that can only be bid on by certified Emerging Small Business firms. These contracts are $250,000 or less. All contracts in the ESB program are promoted on OregonBuys.
For registration assistance with OregonBuys, please contact support.oregonbuys@das.oregon.gov or 1-855-800-5046
- Ensure ODOT is following Oregon laws and requirements.
- Assist and encourage other state and local agencies to have Emerging Small Business programs.
- Ensure that opportunities are available statewide to a diverse pool of businesses.
- Ensure that Emerging Small Businesses can compete fairly for ODOT funded projects.
- Ensure that only eligible firms can participate in the Emerging Small Business program.
- Help develop firms so that they can compete outside of the Emerging Small Business program.