The Bureau of Minority & Women Business Opportunities (BMWBO) maintains an up-to-date, searchable database of all certified Minority & Women Business Enterprises (MBEs/WBEs) at www.dgsweb.state.pa.us/mbewbe/VendorSearch.aspx. We encourage all vendors to use the online search whenever possible. However, if you need more than a few commodities or services, or you have problems using the online search, please feel free to email BMWBO or call (717) 783-3119.

Please note, when searching the online database, you must click the "Search" button to pull up a list of certified companies or commodity codes; simply hitting the ENTER key will produce no results.

1. Go to www.dgsweb.state.pa.us/mbewbe/VendorSearch.aspx.
2. Leave all fields blank and click "Search". 

1. Go to www.dgsweb.state.pa.us/mbewbe/VendorSearch.aspx.
2. Enter the:
• Business Classification Code - Eight-digit code number used to classify service providers and suppliers (see instructions below for Finding Commodity Codes) OR
• Vendor Name - Name of the certified company - do not include commas, periods, or other punctuation (see Database Tips & Field Definitions below) 
• County - Select a specific county or leave blank to search all regions
• MBE/WBE - Select the type of certified company or leave blank to search all certifications
• For more information, see Database Tips & Field Definitions below.
3. Click on “Search” to produce a list of all certified companies that meet your criteria.

1. View complete code list in Excel format.

OR

2. Search for commodity codes online at www.dgsweb.state.pa.us/mbewbe/VendorSearch.aspx.
3. Click the button labeled “Code Look Up” to the right of the Business Classification Code field (leave all fields blank).
4. Briefly describe the supply or service in the Classification Description field (keep your search terms simple, preferably using a single or partial word).
5. Click "Search" to generate a list of all codes that have that word anywhere in their descriptions.
6. Select a code number in the Code Number column (the second column) to automatically return to the vendor search screen; the code number will appear in the appropriate field.
7. Click “Search” to generate a list of all MBE/WBE vendors certified under that code.

To view a list of certified companies as a spreadsheet, click "Search Results to Excel" on the right of the page. You may also click “All Vendor Data to Excel” for a list of all certified vendors.

1. To verify whether a particular company is certified, enter the legal name of the company in the Vendor Name field; leave all other fields blank.
2. Click "Search" to confirm the company's certification and its certification codes.

NOTE: The company name must appear the same as it does in BMWBO’s records. Do not enter a company's Doing Business As (dba) name (an alternative name under which the company does business). For best results, do not enter the company's entire name. For example, entering "Acme Construction Company" as a business name will not work if the company's true name is "Acme Construction, Inc." Enter "Acme" and you will get information on every company with that name. Then simply click on the name of the company you are seeking.

Keep It Simple
The MBE/WBE database will pull only those results that match your search criteria exactly. Unless you need to limit your search to a specific county or certification type, keep those fields blank. Likewise, keep your search terms simple. "Paint" works much better than "Painting" or "Painter" when searching for codes related to that field.

Too Many/Too Few Results
If you generate too many results using the online code search, you have used too general a word (i.e. it appears in the descriptions of too many codes). Try again, using a less common word to describe what you need. If you cannot find any codes for the description you have entered, try another word or even a partial word. For example, entering "surveyor" will not produce any results if the descriptive word is "surveying". By just entering "survey", you will cover all possibilities.

"Business Classification Code" and "Vendor Name" Fields
These two fields are mutually exclusive. When performing a search using either one of these fields, keep the other one blank.

"MBE/WBE" Field
This field lets you restrict your search by certification type: MBE, WBE, or MBE/WBE. Please note that selecting the "MBE/WBE" option will limit your search to only those companies certified as both MBE and WBE. To search all companies, MBE, WBE, and MBE/WBE, leave this field blank.

Complete Vendor List
You can download a list of all certified vendors by clicking the "All Vendor Data to Excel" button. Bear in mind, the list will not include vendor zip codes, code numbers, or code descriptions.

Certification Numbers
The online MBE/WBE database will not show a certified company's Certification Number. The Certification Number is the date that the company's certification expires, starting with the two-digit year, plus the first eight characters of the company's name, including letters, numbers, symbols, and spaces. For example, XYZ Enterprises' certification expires on March 31, 2012; its certification number is 120331XYZ Ente.

Category Codes and Subcodes
The UNSPSC is a hierarchical classification with five levels (although BMWBO uses only four levels of classification). Each level in the hierarchy has its own unique number.

XX Segment
The logical aggregation of families for analytical purposes

XX Family
A commonly recognized group of inter-related commodity categories

XX Class
A group of commodities sharing common characteristics

XX Commodity
A group of substitutable products or services

XX Business Function
The function performed by an organization in support of the commodity (BMWBO does not use this classification level)

Example:

XX Segment
72000000 - Building Construction and Maintenance Services

XX Family
72100000 - Building construction and support and maintenance and repair services

XX Class
72101500 - Building support services

XX Commodity
72101501 - Handyman serivces

Companies providing all materials, supplies, or services within a category will have both the subcodes and category code in their certifications; all others will have subcodes only.

Searching Category Codes
You can search all subcodes within a category by entering the category code in the Business Classification Code field. Make sure "Yes" is selected following the question "Do you want a listing of the companies who are assigned the sub-codes that fall under this specific category?". You will find this just above the Vendor Name field.