If you are a minority/women-owned business in NYS you should consider going through the process to be certified. Advantages to certification include preferences in government contracting, including as sub-contrahttps://esd.ny.gov/doing-business-ny/mwbectors to a larger contracts. There are also sometimes preferences in grants, and more favorable loan terms. To become certified as a minority/women-owned business follow the link.

This is the link to the US Small Business Administration page with links for federal certification and assistance to many types of small businesses (women owned, Native-American, veteran, rural etc…). Like the state, the federal government also has set-aside programs for federal contracts and programs to support certified businesses that are small, women owned, minority owned, etc…