Cincinnati establishes reciprocal certification for state-certified WBEs

OH News - Published Feb 19, 2026

The City of Cincinnati has published a memorandum of understanding establishing that woman-owned business enterprises (WBEs) certified as such by the State of Ohio's Department of Development are eligible to be reciprocally certified as WBEs by the City's Department of Economic Inclusion.

Under the terms of the memorandum, any state-certified WBE will have access to an expedited form of reciprocal City certification, so long as they are located in Hamilton County. The reciprocal certification procedures mirror those that have been in place for similarly-situated MBEs since 2015.

Find the page for the City's Department of Economic Inclusion at https://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/inclusion/.