OAR 123-200-1210: Minorities and Women Business Enterprise Certification — Determination of Socially and Economically Disadvantaged

(1) It is a rebuttable presumption that minorities and women are socially and economically disadvantaged. (2) The COBID may also determine on a case-by-case basis other individuals who are socially and economically disadvantaged. These individuals claiming disadvantaged status are required to submit a socially and economically Disadvantaged Questionnaire administered by COBID. (3) Socially disadvantaged individuals are people subject to racial or ethnic prejudice or cultural bias because of their identity as members of a group without regard to individual qualities. (a) The social disadvantage must stem from the individual’s color, national origin, gender, physical handicap, long-term residence in an environment isolated from the mainstream of American society, or other similar cause beyond the individual’s control. (b) The minority and women applicants must demonstrate: (A) He or she personally suffered the social and economic disadvantage because of discriminatory treatment in the United States; and (B) The social and economic disadvantage was chronic, long-standing, and substantial, and was not fleeting or insignificant. (4) Social disadvantage does not include factors common to small business.