Nearly 500 women-owned businesses rejected from MWBE program, but NY denies fraud concerns

Buffalo News Article

“A review of state economic development files and court records by The Buffalo News revealed nearly 500 cases in the last three years where state officials either denied the certification of a woman-owned business or revoked its certification years after the state initially approved it.

Most of those cases involved family businesses where a woman owned a majority stake in the company but a male member of the woman's family either co-owned or had significant roles in the business.

There are financial incentives that might prompt men in the building trades to put their company in their wife's name. ”