Section 84.14. Certification procedure for Wisconsin businesses.

 

(1)   Certification procedure.

(a) Any business that meets the standards for certification may file an official application with the department.

(b) Upon receipt of the application, the department shall review the application for completeness and for compliance with the requirements of s. 16.287 , Stats., and s. Adm 84.03 .

(c) The department may request applicants to provide additional information or documentation to provide clarification and substantiation of or to resolve any ambiguities or inconsistencies in their application form.

(d) The department may impose a time limit of not less than 30 days in which the applicant must provide the requested information. A reasonable extension may be given by the department for good cause shown by the applicant. Requests for time extensions should be made to the program and should specify the length of time for which the extension is being requested and the reasons for the request.

(e) The department may conduct an on-site visit of the applicant's operations. The on-site visit may be scheduled or unannounced. The visit may include, but is not limited to, the following:

1. A discussion of business operations with the owners;

2. An examination of the applicant's physical plant, inventory, machinery and equipment, financial records, customer accounts, and legal records.

3. A review of the business organizational structure, management responsibilities and labor force characteristics.

(f) After reviewing and evaluating the entire application, the department shall issue either a notice of certification or a notice of intent to deny certification stating the reasons for denial and offering the applicant the opportunity for an informal hearing under s. Adm 84.18 .

(g) Applicants shall have 30 days from the date of the department's notification of intent to deny certification to submit a written request for an informal hearing. If no request for an informal hearing is made, the determination to deny certification shall become final and a final notice of denial shall be sent to the applicant within 30 days. The notice shall state the reason for denial and notify the applicant of its appeal rights under ch. 227 , Stats. , and s. Adm 84.19 .

(h) Each applicant denied certification may reapply for certification no earlier than 12 months from the date of the final notice of denial of certification.

(2)   Denial of certification. The department shall deny certification for any of the following reasons:

(a) The department determines that the applicant fails to meet the eligibility standards for certification.

(b) The applicant fails to furnish the department with requested information within the allotted time period.

(c) The applicant knowingly provides false or misleading information to the department.

(d) The applicant shares indistinguishable facilities, such as office space, production, distribution or storage facilities, machinery and equipment, or employees with a nonminority firm which is in a substantially similar line of business.

(3)   Length of certification. Once certified, an applicant shall remain certified until the designated expiration date, unless certification is revoked as provided for under s. Adm 84.17 .

History: Cr. Register, September, 1987, No. 381 , eff. 10-1-87; correction in (1) (b), (d), (f), (g), (3) made under s. 13.92 (4) (b) 6. , 7. , Stats., Register December 2011 No. 672 .

Note

Application forms are available from and should be submitted to: Department of Administration, Minority Business Certification Program, P.O. Box 7970, Madison, WI 53707-7970. Microsoft Windows NT 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1