Small businesses in the U.S. are facing extraordinary ongoing difficulty in light of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. Because of this, more individuals may want to apply for Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) certification through an individualized showing of disadvantage. TRB will host a webinar on Thursday, October 15, 2020 from 1:00 to 3:00 pm Eastern that will clarify some of the qualifications for DBE. Presenters will discuss which groups are presumed disadvantaged under DBE program regulation, and describe the process for questioning the group membership of an owner who claims social and economic disadvantage. They will explain the unique procedures for confirming Native American status, clarify making an individualized determination of disadvantage, and review pertinent appeal decisions. Last of all, presenters will also explain the burden of proof an applicant firm bears, examples of evidence, and the procedures that certifiers must follow.

This webinar is sponsored by the TRB Standing Committee on Contracting Equity.

Some registrants will need to pay $95 to attend this webinar. Sign into MyTRB.org to view registration information.

Webinar agenda and presenters

1. Claiming and confirming social and economic disadvantage: Aarthi Haig, U.S. Department of Transportation Departmental Office of Civil Rights
2. Responsibilities of applicants and certifiers: Samuel F. Brooks, U.S. Department of Transportation Departmental Office of Civil Rights
3. Question and answer session: Moderated by Marc Pentino, U.S. Department of Transportation Departmental Office of Civil Rights

The first 90 minutes of the webinar will be for presentations and the final 30 minutes will be reserved for audience questions.

Learning Objectives
At the end of this webinar, you will able to:

1. Correctly question a claim of group membership within the bounds of DBE regulation
2. Determine whether a firm owner not claiming a presumption of disadvantage meets the criteria for an individualized showing of disadvantage

Professional Development Hour Information

Professional engineers (PEs) who register and attend the entire webinar as an individual will be awarded 2.0 Professional Development Hours (PDHs). TRB’s webinar program awards PDH credits only to the registered individual, and not to other members of a group that view the webinar together. To be eligible for the credits, individuals must remain signed in for the entire webinar, including for any question and answer session following the presentations.

Pre-registration is required. Once the webinar starts, you will be unable to register. Individuals that are registered for a webinar but do not receive their confirmation emails due to their organization’s internal firewalls should contact the TRB Helpdesk for assistance in signing in.

Please check with your licensing board to ensure that TRB webinar PDHs are approved by your board.

TRB will report credits earned to the Registered Continuing Education Program (RCEP). Complaints about registered providers may be sent to RCEP, 1015 15th Street, NW, 8th Floor, Washington, D.C., 20005.

Continuing Legal Education (CLE) Credits: 

TRB is offering 1.75 CLE credits for this webinar. TRB did not seek approval for the above listed workshop from the state board, so we advise that you contact your state board prior to registering for the webinar to see if credits would be accepted. Registered webinar attendees who sign in and view the entire webinar will receive a link to a certificate to fill out and provide to their board.

Registration questions? Contact Reggie Gillum.