Section 326-02-030. Definitions.

Words and terms used in this title shall have the same meaning as each has under chapter 120, Laws of 1983, unless otherwise specifically provided in this title, or the context in which they are used clearly indicates that they should be given some other meaning.

(1) "Advisory committee" means the advisory committee on minority, women, and socially and economically disadvantaged individual's business enterprises.

(2) "Broker" means a person that provides a bona fide service, such as professional, technical, consultant, brokerage, or managerial services and assistance in the procurement of essential personnel, facilities, equipment, materials, or supplies required for performance of a contract.

(3) "Certified business" or "certified" means a business or the status of a business that has been examined by the Washington state office of minority and women's business enterprises and deemed to be a minority business enterprise (MBE), a women's business enterprise (WBE), a minority woman's business enterprise (MWBE), a combination business enterprise (CBE), or socially and economically disadvantaged business enterprise (SEDBE).

(4) "Class of contract basis" means an entire group of contracts having a common characteristic. Examples include, but are not limited to, personal service contracts, public works contracts, leases, purchasing contracts, and contracts for specific types of goods and/or services.

(5) "Combination business enterprise" or "CBE" means a small business concern organized for profit, performing a commercially useful function, that is fifty percent owned and controlled by one or more minority men or MBEs certified by the office and fifty percent owned and controlled by one or more nonminority women or WBEs certified by the office. The owners must be United States citizens or lawful permanent residents.

(6) "Commercially useful function" means the performance of real and actual services which are integral and necessary in the discharge of any contractual endeavor, and not solely for the purpose of obtaining certification or obtaining credit for participation goal attainment.

(7) "Common industry practices" means those usages, customs, or practices which are ordinary, normal, or prevalent among businesses, trades, or industries of similar types engaged in similar work in similar situations in the community.

(8) "Conduit" means a certified business which agrees to be named as a subcontractor on a contract in which such certified business does not perform the work but, rather, the work is performed by the prime contractor, prime consultant, material supplier, purchasing contractor, or any other noncertified business.

(9) "Contract" means a mutually binding legal relationship (including a purchase order, lease, or any modification thereof), which obligates the seller to furnish goods or services (including construction), and the buyer to pay for them.

(10) "Contract by contract basis" means a single contract within a specific class of contracts.

(11) "Contractor" means a party who enters into a contract directly with a state agency or educational institution.

(12) "Corporate-sponsored dealership" means a business that does not meet the requirements for certification but is participating in a program specifically developed by a national or regional corporation to address the present-day issue of lack of opportunities for minorities or women in the dealership industry.

(13) "Director" means the director of the office of minority and women's business enterprises.

(14) "Economically disadvantaged individuals" means socially disadvantaged individuals whose ability to compete in the free enterprise system has been impaired due to diminished capital and credit opportunities as compared to others in the same or similar line of business who are not socially disadvantaged.

(15) "Educational institutions" means the state universities, the regional universities, The Evergreen State College, and the community colleges.

(16) "Front" means a business which purports to be eligible for certification but is not in fact legitimately owned and controlled by minorities, women, socially and economically disadvantaged individuals, or a combination thereof.

(17) "Goods and/or services" means all goods and services, including professional services.

(18) "Graduation" means the business is no longer certified because it is no longer a small business concern.

(19) "Heavy construction" means construction other than building construction; e.g., highway or street, sewer and pipeline, railroad, communication and power line, flood control, irrigation, marine, etc.

(20) "Joint venture" means a partnership of two or more persons or businesses created to carry out a single business enterprise for profit, for which purpose they combine their capital, efforts, skills, knowledge or property and in which they exercise control and share in profits and losses in proportion to their contribution to the enterprise.

(21) "Legitimately owned and controlled" means that minorities, women, socially and economically disadvantaged individuals, or a combination thereof, own at least fifty-one percent interest in the business (unless the business qualifies as a corporate sponsored dealership under the provisions of subsection (12) of this section and WAC 326-20-050(4)); and the minorities, women, socially and economically disadvantaged individuals, or combination thereof, possess and exercise sufficient expertise specifically in the firm's field of operation to make decisions governing the long-term direction and the day-to-day operations of the firm.

(22) "Manufacturer" means a business which owns, operates, or maintains a factory or establishment that produces or creates goods from raw materials or substantially alters goods before reselling them.

(23) "Minority" means a person who is a citizen or lawful permanent resident of the United States and who is:

(a) Black: Having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa;

(b) Hispanic: Of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American, or other Spanish or Portuguese culture or origin, regardless of race;

(c) Asian American: Having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, or the Pacific Islands; or

(d) American Indian or Alaskan native: Having origins in any of the original peoples of North America.

(24) "Minority business enterprise," "minority-owned business enterprise," or "MBE" means a small business concern, organized for profit, performing a commercially useful function, which is legitimately owned and controlled by one or more minority individuals or minority business enterprises certified by the office. The minority owners must be United States citizens or lawful permanent residents.

(25) "Minority women's business enterprise" or "MWBE" means a small-business concern, organized for profit, performing a commercially useful function, which is legitimately owned and controlled by one or more minority women and is certified by the office. The owners must be United States citizens or lawful permanent residents.

(26) "Office" means the office of minority and women's business enterprises of the state of Washington.

(27) "Pass-through" means a certified business which buys goods from a noncertified business and simply resells those goods to the state, state contractors or other persons doing business with the state for the purpose of allowing those goods to be counted towards fulfillment of WBE or MBE goals.

(28) "Person" means one or more individuals, partnerships, associations, organizations, corporations, cooperatives, legal representatives, trustees and receivers, or any group of persons.

(29) "Personal net worth" means the socially and economically disadvantaged individual's net personal assets and liabilities, excluding an individual's ownership interest in the applicant firm and the individual's equity in his or her primary residence. If the statement of personal net worth that an individual submits shows that the individual's personal net worth exceeds seven hundred fifty thousand dollars, the individual's economic disadvantage is rebutted.

(30) "Procurement" means the purchase, lease, or rental of any goods or services.

(31) "Public works" means all work, including construction, highway and ferry construction, alteration, repair, or improvement other than ordinary maintenance, which a state agency or educational institution is authorized or required by law to undertake.

(32) "Regular dealer" means a certified business that owns, operates, or maintains a store, warehouse or other establishment in which the materials or supplies required for the performance of the contract are bought, kept in stock, and regularly sold to the public in the usual course of business.

(33) "Services" in the context of "goods and/or services," means all services including, but not limited to, client services, personal services, and purchased services as defined in RCW 39.29.006.

(34) "Socially disadvantaged individuals" means those individuals who have been subjected to racial or ethnic prejudice or cultural bias, gender, disability, long-term residence in an isolated environment, or other similar causes negatively impacting entry into or advancement in the business world within American society because of their identities as members of groups and without regard to their individual qualities. Social disadvantage must stem from circumstances beyond their control.

(35) "Socially and economically disadvantaged business enterprise" or "SEDBE" means a small-business concern, organized for profit, performing a commercially useful function, which is legitimately owned and controlled by one or more socially and economically disadvantaged individuals or socially and economically disadvantaged business enterprises certified by the office. The socially and economically disadvantaged owners must be United States citizens or lawful permanent residents.

(36) "Socially and economically disadvantaged individual" means a person who is a citizen or lawful permanent resident of the United States and who is:

(a) Found to be a socially and economically disadvantaged individual on a case-by-case basis by OMWBE; or

(b) A member of one of the following groups that are presumed to be socially and economically disadvantaged:

(i) Minority;

(ii) Women;

(iii) Any additional groups whose members are designated as socially and economically disadvantaged by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), at such time as the SBA designation becomes effective.

(37) "State agency" includes the state of Washington and all agencies, departments, offices, divisions, boards, commissions, and correctional and other types of institutions. "State agency" does not include the judicial or legislative branches of government except to the extent that procurement or public works for these branches is performed by a state agency.

(38) "Subcontractor" means a party that indirectly provides goods or services, including but not limited to construction, to a state agency or educational institution through a contractor.

(39) "Supplier" means a manufacturer or regular dealer that:

(a) Provides or furnishes goods or materials;

(b) Performs a commercially useful function; and

(c) Is not considered a conduit, front, pass-through or broker.

(40) "Switch business" means a business which was previously owned and controlled by a man, men or nonminorities, or individuals who are not socially and economically disadvantaged, which has made technical changes to its business structure so that it is now purportedly owned and controlled by a woman or women or by a minority person or persons, or by a socially and economically disadvantaged individual or individuals, but continues to operate in substantially the same manner as it did prior to the written revisions of the business structure.

(41) "Women's business enterprise," "women-owned business enterprise," or "WBE" means a small business concern, organized for profit, performing a commercially useful function, which is legitimately owned and controlled by one or more women or women's business enterprises certified by the office. The women owners must be United States citizens or lawful permanent residents.

[Statutory Authority: RCW 39.19.030 and 39.19.120. WSR 04-08-093, § 326-02-030, filed 4/6/04, effective 5/7/04. Statutory Authority: RCW 39.19.030(7). WSR 96-24-085, § 326-02-030, filed 12/3/96, effective 1/3/97. Statutory Authority: RCW 39.19.030. WSR 94-11-116, § 326-02-030, filed 5/18/94, effective 6/18/94. Statutory Authority: RCW 39.19.030(7). WSR 92-24-107, § 326-02-030, filed 12/2/92, effective 1/2/93; WSR 92-11-007, § 326-02-030, filed 5/11/92, effective 6/11/92; WSR 89-24-047, § 326-02-030, filed 12/1/89, effective 1/1/90. Statutory Authority: Chapter 39.19 RCW. WSR 88-12-060 (Order 88-5), § 326-02-030, filed 5/31/88; WSR 88-08-031 (Order 88-4), § 326-02-030, filed 4/1/88; WSR 87-18-030 (Order 87-6), § 326-02-030, filed 8/27/87; WSR 86-17-018 (Order 86-2), § 326-02-030, filed 8/11/86; WSR 85-14-101 (Order 85-6), § 326-02-030, filed 7/2/85; WSR 84-09-002 (Order 84-5), § 326-02-030, filed 4/5/84. Statutory Authority: 1983 c 120 § 3(7). WSR 83-22-045 (Order 83-3), § 326-02-030, filed 10/28/83.]

RCW 39.19.030 and 39.19.120. WSR 04-08-093, § 326-02-030, filed 4/6/04, effective 5/7/04. Statutory Authority: RCW 39.19.030(7). WSR 96-24-085, § 326-02-030, filed 12/3/96, effective 1/3/97. Statutory Authority: RCW 39.19.030. WSR 94-11-116, § 326-02-030, filed 5/18/94, effective 6/18/94. Statutory Authority: RCW 39.19.030(7). WSR 92-24-107, § 326-02-030, filed 12/2/92, effective 1/2/93; WSR 92-11-007, § 326-02-030, filed 5/11/92, effective 6/11/92; WSR 89-24-047, § 326-02-030, filed 12/1/89, effective 1/1/90. Statutory Authority: Chapter 39.19 RCW. WSR 88-12-060 (Order 88-5), § 326-02-030, filed 5/31/88; WSR 88-08-031 (Order 88-4), § 326-02-030, filed 4/1/88; WSR 87-18-030 (Order 87-6), § 326-02-030, filed 8/27/87; WSR 86-17-018 (Order 86-2), § 326-02-030, filed 8/11/86; WSR 85-14-101 (Order 85-6), § 326-02-030, filed 7/2/85; WSR 84-09-002 (Order 84-5), § 326-02-030, filed 4/5/84. Statutory Authority: 1983 c 120 § 3(7). WSR 83-22-045 (Order 83-3), § 326-02-030, filed 10/28/83.

Rules

326-20-050,