2010 New York Code
EXC - Executive
Article 15-A - (310 - 318) PARTICIPATION BY MINORITY GROUP MEMBERS AND WOMEN WITH RESPECT TO STATE CONTRACTS
310 - Definitions.

* § 310. Definitions.  As  used  in  this article, the following terms
  shall have the following meanings:
    1. "Certified business" shall mean a business verified as  a  minority
  or  women-owned  business  enterprise  pursuant to section three hundred
  fourteen of this article.
    2. "Contracting agency" shall mean a state agency which is a party  or
  a proposed party to a state contract or, in the case of a state contract
  described  in  paragraph  (c)  of  subdivision thirteen of this section,
  shall mean the New York state housing finance agency, housing trust fund
  corporation or affordable housing corporation,  whichever  has  made  or
  proposes  to  make  the  grant  or  loan  for the state assisted housing
  project.
    3. "Contractor" shall  mean  an  individual,  a  business  enterprise,
  including  a  sole  proprietorship,  a  partnership,  a  corporation,  a
  not-for-profit corporation, or any other party to a state contract, or a
  bidder in conjunction with the award of a state contract or  a  proposed
  party to a state contract.
    4.  "Director" shall mean the director of the division of minority and
  women's business development in the department of economic development.
    5. "Large county" shall mean a county having a population in excess of
  two hundred eighty-five thousand according to the  most  recent  federal
  decennial census, provided however, that a county having a population in
  excess  of  two  hundred  eighty-five thousand according to the nineteen
  hundred eighty federal decennial census shall continue  to  be  a  large
  county thereafter notwithstanding a later census showing a population of
  less than two hundred eighty-five thousand for such county.
    6.  "Metropolitan  area"  shall  mean  a city with a population of one
  million or more and a county  having  a  population  in  excess  of  one
  million and immediately contiguous to such city.
    7.   "Minority-owned   business  enterprise"  shall  mean  a  business
  enterprise, including a sole proprietorship, partnership or  corporation
  that is:
    (a)  at  least  fifty-one  percent owned by one or more minority group
  members;
    (b)  an  enterprise  in  which  such  minority  ownership   is   real,
  substantial and continuing;
    (c)  an  enterprise in which such minority ownership has and exercises
  the authority to control independently the day-to-day business decisions
  of the enterprise;
    (d) an  enterprise  authorized  to  do  business  in  this  state  and
  independently owned and operated;
    (e)  an  enterprise  owned  by  an  individual  or  individuals, whose
  ownership, control and operation are relied upon for certification, with
  a personal net worth that does not exceed  three  million  five  hundred
  thousand  dollars,  as  adjusted  annually  on  the first of January for
  inflation according to the consumer price index of  the  previous  year;
  and
    (f)  an  enterprise  that  is a small business pursuant to subdivision
  twenty of this section.
    8. "Minority group member" shall  mean  a  United  States  citizen  or
  permanent resident alien who is and can demonstrate membership in one of
  the following groups:
    (a)  Black  persons  having origins in any of the Black African racial
  groups;
    (b) Hispanic persons  of  Mexican,  Puerto  Rican,  Dominican,  Cuban,
  Central   or  South  American  of  either  Indian  or  Hispanic  origin,
  regardless of race;

(c) Native American or Alaskan native persons having origins in any of
  the original peoples of North America.
    (d)  Asian  and  Pacific Islander persons having origins in any of the
  Far East countries, South East Asia,  the  Indian  subcontinent  or  the
  Pacific Islands.
    9.  "Utilization  plan" shall mean a plan prepared by a contractor and
  submitted in connection with a proposed state contract. The  utilization
  plan   shall   identify   certified  minority  or  women-owned  business
  enterprises, if known, that have committed to perform work in connection
  with the proposed state contract as well as  any  such  enterprises,  if
  known,  which  the  contractor  intends  to  use  in connection with the
  contractor's performance of the proposed state contract. The plan  shall
  specifically  contain  a list, including the name, address and telephone
  number, of each certified enterprise with which the  contractor  intends
  to subcontract.
    10.  "Office" shall mean the division of minority and women's business
  development in the department of economic development.
    11. "State agency" shall mean (a) (i) any state  department,  or  (ii)
  any  division,  board,  commission or bureau of any state department, or
  (iii) the state university of New York and the city  university  of  New
  York,  including  all  their constituent units except community colleges
  and  the  independent  institutions  operating  statutory  or   contract
  colleges  on  behalf  of the state, or (iv) a board, a majority of whose
  members are appointed by the governor or who serve by  virtue  of  being
  state  officers  or  employees  as  defined in subparagraph (i), (ii) or
  (iii) of paragraph (i) of subdivision one of  section  seventy-three  of
  the public officers law:
    (b)  a "state authority," as defined in subdivision one of section two
  of the public authorities law, and the following:
          Albany County Airport Authority;
          Albany Port District Commission;
          Alfred, Almond, Hornellsville Sewer Authority;
          Battery Park City Authority;
          Cayuga County Water and Sewer Authority;
          (Nelson A. Rockefeller) Empire State Plaza Performing Arts
            Center Corporation;
          Industrial Exhibit Authority;
          Livingston County Water and Sewer Authority;
          Long Island Power Authority;
          Long Island Rail Road;
          Long Island Market Authority;
          Manhattan and Bronx Surface Transit Operating Authority;
          Metro-North Commuter Railroad;
          Metropolitan Suburban Bus Authority;
          Metropolitan Transportation Authority;
          Natural Heritage Trust;
          New York City Transit Authority;
          New York Convention Center Operating Corporation;
          New York State Bridge Authority;
          New York State Olympic Regional Development Authority;
          New York State Thruway Authority;
          Niagara Falls Public Water Authority;
          Niagara Falls Water Board;
          Port of Oswego Authority;
          Power Authority of the State of New York;
          Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation;
          Schenectady Metroplex Development Authority;
          State Insurance Fund;

Staten Island Rapid Transit Operating Authority;
          State University Construction Fund;
          Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority.
          Upper Mohawk valley regional water board.
          Upper Mohawk valley regional water finance authority.
          Upper Mohawk valley memorial auditorium authority.
          Urban Development Corporation and its subsidiary corporations.
    (c) the  following  only to the extent of state contracts entered into
  for its own account or for the benefit of a state agency as  defined  in
  paragraph (a) or (b) of this subdivision:
          Dormitory Authority of the State of New York;
          Facilities Development Corporation;
          New York State Energy Research and Development Authority;
          New York State Science and Technology Foundation.
    12.  "State  assisted  housing  project" shall mean, for such projects
  which receive from the  New  York  state  housing  finance  agency,  the
  affordable  housing  corporation,  the housing trust fund corporation or
  the division of housing and community renewal a grant or loan for all or
  part of the total project cost:
    (a) a "permanent housing project for homeless families"  or  "project"
  as  defined  in  subdivision  five  of section sixty-four of the private
  housing finance law;
    (b) a "project" as  defined  in  subdivision  twelve  of  section  one
  thousand  one  hundred  one  of the private housing finance law provided
  said project is located in a large county  and  consists  of  more  than
  twelve residential units at a single site;
    (c)  "affordable  home ownership development programs" or "project" as
  defined in subdivision eight of section one thousand one hundred  eleven
  of the private housing finance law provided said project is located in a
  metropolitan  area  as  herein  defined and consists of more than twelve
  residential units at a single site;
    (d) a "turnkey/enhanced rental project" or  "project"  as  defined  in
  subdivision two of section one thousand one hundred six-a of the private
  housing finance law;
    (e)  "infrastructure  improvements"  as  defined in subdivision two of
  section one thousand one  hundred  thirty-one  of  the  private  housing
  finance  law,  to the extent that such "infrastructure improvements" are
  applied for in connection with  a  state  assisted  housing  project  as
  defined  in  paragraphs (a) through (d) of this subdivision and provided
  further that the applicant for such infrastructure improvements and  for
  such state assisted housing project are identical.
    13.  "State  contract" shall mean: (a) a written agreement or purchase
  order instrument,  providing  for  a  total  expenditure  in  excess  of
  twenty-five  thousand dollars, whereby a contracting agency is committed
  to expend or does expend funds in return for labor,  services  including
  but  not  limited  to  legal, financial and other professional services,
  supplies, equipment, materials or any combination of the  foregoing,  to
  be  performed  for,  or rendered or furnished to the contracting agency;
  (b) a written agreement  in  excess  of  one  hundred  thousand  dollars
  whereby a contracting agency is committed to expend or does expend funds
  for the acquisition, construction, demolition, replacement, major repair
  or  renovation  of  real  property  and  improvements thereon; and (c) a
  written agreement in excess of one hundred thousand dollars whereby  the
  owner of a state assisted housing project is committed to expend or does
  expend funds for the acquisition, construction, demolition, replacement,
  major repair or renovation of real property and improvements thereon for
  such project.

14.  "Subcontract"  shall  mean  an  agreement  providing  for a total
  expenditure  in  excess  of  twenty-five  thousand   dollars   for   the
  construction,   demolition,   replacement,   major  repair,  renovation,
  planning or design of real property and improvements thereon  between  a
  contractor  and  any individual or business enterprise, including a sole
  proprietorship, partnership, corporation, or not-for-profit corporation,
  in which a portion of a contractor's obligation under a  state  contract
  is  undertaken  or  assumed,  but  shall  not  include any construction,
  demolition, replacement, major repair, renovation, planning or design of
  real property or improvements thereon for  the  beneficial  use  of  the
  contractor.
    15.   "Women-owned   business   enterprise"   shall  mean  a  business
  enterprise, including a sole proprietorship, partnership or  corporation
  that is:
    (a)  at  least  fifty-one  percent  owned by one or more United States
  citizens or permanent resident aliens who are women;
    (b) an enterprise in which the ownership interest  of  such  women  is
  real, substantial and continuing;
    (c)  an enterprise in which such women ownership has and exercises the
  authority to control independently the day-to-day business decisions  of
  the enterprise;
    (d)  an  enterprise  authorized  to  do  business  in  this  state and
  independently owned and operated;
    (e) an  enterprise  owned  by  an  individual  or  individuals,  whose
  ownership, control and operation are relied upon for certification, with
  a  personal  net  worth  that does not exceed three million five hundred
  thousand dollars, as adjusted annually  on  the  first  of  January  for
  inflation  according  to  the consumer price index of the previous year;
  and
    (f) an enterprise that is a small  business  pursuant  to  subdivision
  twenty of this section.
    A  firm  owned  by  a minority group member who is also a woman may be
  certified  as  a  minority-owned  business  enterprise,  a   women-owned
  business  enterprise,  or  both,  and  may  be  counted towards either a
  minority-owned  business  enterprise  goal  or  a  women-owned  business
  enterprise goal, in regard to any contract or any goal, set by an agency
  or  authority,  but  such  participation may not be counted towards both
  such goals. Such an enterprise's participation in a contract may not  be
  divided  between  the  minority-owned  business  enterprise goal and the
  women-owned business enterprise goal.
    16. "Statewide advocate"  shall  mean  the  person  appointed  by  the
  commissioner  to  serve  in the capacity of the minority and women-owned
  business enterprise statewide advocate.
    17. "Commissioner" shall mean the commissioner of  the  department  of
  economic development.
    18.   "Lessee"  shall  mean  an  individual,  a  business  enterprise,
  including  a  sole  proprietorship,  a  partnership,  a  corporation,  a
  not-for-profit  corporation,  or any other party to a lease with a state
  agency as defined in subdivision eleven of this section, or a respondent
  in conjunction with the award of such a lease or a proposed lessee  with
  a state agency as defined in subdivision eleven of this section.
    19.  "Personal  net worth" shall mean the aggregate adjusted net value
  of the assets of an individual remaining  after  total  liabilities  are
  deducted.  Personal  net worth includes the individual's share of assets
  held jointly with said individual's spouse  and  does  not  include  the
  individual's   ownership   interest   in   the  certified  minority  and
  women-owned business enterprise, the individual's equity in his  or  her
  primary residence, or up to five hundred thousand dollars of the present

cash  value  of  any  qualified  retirement  savings  plan or individual
  retirement account held by the individual less any penalties  for  early
  withdrawal.
    20.  "Small  business"  as  used  in  this  section,  unless otherwise
  indicated, shall mean  a  business  which  has  a  significant  business
  presence in the state, is independently owned and operated, not dominant
  in  its  field  and  employs, based on its industry, a certain number of
  persons as determined by the director, but not to exceed three  hundred,
  taking into consideration factors which include, but are not limited to,
  federal  small business administration standards pursuant to 13 CFR part
  121 and any amendments thereto. The director may  issue  regulations  on
  the construction of the terms in this definition.
    21.  "The  2010  disparity  study"  shall refer to the disparity study
  commissioned by the empire state development  corporation,  pursuant  to
  section  three  hundred twelve-a of this article, and published on April
  twenty-nine, two thousand ten.
    22. "Diversity practices" shall mean the  contractor's  practices  and
  policies with respect to:
    (a)  utilizing certified minority and women-owned business enterprises
  in contracts awarded by a state agency or other public  corporation,  as
  subcontractors and suppliers; and
    (b)  entering  into  partnerships,  joint  ventures  or  other similar
  arrangements  with   certified   minority   and   women-owned   business
  enterprises  as  defined  in this article or other applicable statute or
  regulation governing an entity's utilization of minority or  women-owned
  business enterprises.
    * NB Expires December 31, 2016