Articles of Incorporation – The Articles of Incorporation spell out the legal and financial terms for a certain business entity to become an official corporation. Many businesses incorporate to protect themselves and their employees from legal action or to receive tax incentives and bidding opportunities.

Articles of Organization – The Articles of Organization define the legal and financial terms for a certain business entity to become an official limited liability corporation (LLC).

CBE – Certified Business Enterprise – This is the term used to describe the agency’s business certification program. Businesses with CBE certification receive preferred procurement and contracting opportunities.

Certificate of Good Standing – This document, issued by DC’s Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA) and the Office of Tax and Revenue (OTR), certifies that a company has officially used good business practices and has no outstanding lawsuits or complaints against it.

Certificate of Incorporation – This document certifies that a certain corporation is officially registered with a state and that it will obey those particular state statutory laws when conducting business.

Corporation – A corporation is a fictitious legal entity (or person) that has rights and duties independent of the rights and duties of real persons and is legally authorized to act in its own name through duly appointed agents. It is liable for debts and can make contracts and pay taxes. Corporations exist only because state statutory laws allow them to be created. Companies may be registered as C-Corporations, S-Corporations, or Limited Liability Corporations (LLC).

DBE – Disadvantaged Business Enterprise –  A DBE business demonstrates that 51percent of those who own, operate and control the business are socially disadvantaged due to chronic instances of prejudice or bias from their identity as members of a group; and the business' owners, operators and controllers are economically disadvantaged due to diminished opportunity for competition in the open marketplace. For eligibility, see DSLBD's DBE Fact Sheet.

DZE – Development Enterprise Zone – Businesses located in the District’s Enterprise Zone (EZ) are eligible for DZE classification, which entitles them to two preference points when bidding on Requests for Proposal (RFPs). They may also be eligible for a two-percent reduction on the scoring of a bid response.

DSLBD – Department of Small and Local Business Development– The DSLBD receives, analyzes and processes Local, Small, and Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (LSDBE) Certification applications on a continuous basis and serves as the administrative arm and liaison for the Small & Local Business Opportunity Commission (SLBOC).

DUNS – Dun & Bradstreet Number  – The D&B DUNS Number is a unique nine-digit identification sequence which provides unique identifiers of single business entities, while linking corporate family structures together. It is recognized, recommended, and/or required by more than 50 global industry and trade associations, including the federal government, and has become the standard for keeping track of the world's businesses.

Employer’s Quarterly Contribution and Wage Report –UC-30 Form – This form is the Employer’s Quarterly Contribution and Wage Report available from the Department of Employment Services.

EZ – Enterprise Zone –  An Enterprise Zone is an area in the District designated by law for special initiatives to stimulate economic growth and job development including taxable and tax-exempt revenue bonds to finance the acquisition, construction, and renovation of a wide array of capital projects owned by private enterprises and non-profit institutions and providing wage credits, an additional expensing allowance, a zero federal capital gains tax rate on certain investments, and tax-exempt bond financing. For more details, go to the website for Deputy Mayor for Economic Planning and Development Enterprize Zone Program .

Joint Venture – A Joint Venture is an association of two or more businesses – including one certifed local, small, or disadvantaged business enterprise with at least 51 percent ownership, management and control – temporarily formed to carry out a single business activity or project for profit in which they combine their property, capital, efforts, skills, and knowledge. The association is limited in scope and duration. The LSDBE venture partner must remain within the above small business size standards in order to qualify for approval, in accordance with DCMR Section 812.12. (FS).

LSDBE – Local, Small, and Disadvantaged Business Enterprise – This term is the former moniker of the CBE program. When the program changed in 2005 and expanded to include more than just “local, small, and disadvantaged” companies, the term to describe certified District business was changed to Certified Business Enterprise (CBE).

LRB – Longtime Resident Business – This term is for a business that has been continuously eligible for certification as a local business enterprise (LBE) for 20 years.

LLC – Limited Liability Corporation – A Limited Liability Company (LLC) is a hybrid of a partnership and a corporation. LLCs closely resemble and are taxed like partnerships, but, like corporations, offer the benefit of limited liability. LLC owners are shielded from personal liability, and all profits and losses pass directly to the owners without taxation of the entity itself.

NIGP Codes – National Institute of Government Purchase Codes – The District's Office of Contracting and Procurement (OCP) identifies and purchases necessary goods and services by commodity codes known as National Institute of Government Purchase codes. Certified LSDBEs should review in detail all NIGP codes applicable to their businesses since the DC government matches all notices of solicitation based on the primary NIGP codes listed in the database. View the alphabetical listing on the DSLBD NIGP Database.

Partnership – A partnership consists of two or more individuals or entities who agree to contribute money, labor, property, or skill to a business and share in its profits, losses, and management.

Penalty Provisions – The Corporation Counsel may bring a civil action in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia against a business enterprise and the directors, officers, or principals that it reasonably believed have obtained certification by fraud or deceit or have furnished substantially inaccurate or incomplete ownership information to the Commission. A business enterprise or individual found guilty is subject to a civil penalty of not more than $100,000 in accordance with DC Law 12-268.

ROB – Resident Owned Business – A resident-owned business (ROB) is a local business enterprise (LBE) owned by an individual, or a majority number of individuals, subject to personal income tax in the District of Columbia.

SBE – Small Business Enterprise – A Small Business Enterprise may be a local business enterprise (LBE) or a qualified metropolitan area business enterprise. SBEs are independently owned, operated, and controlled. SBEs that are certified by the United States Small Business Administration as a small business concern under the Small Business Act and are headquartered ithe District of Columbia are eligible for the District’s LSDBE Program.

SLBOC – Small & Local Business Opportunity Commission –  DSLBD processes LSDBE applications and presents summary reports to SLBOC for certification review. The SLBOC meets monthly and notifies applicants of business certification in writing within 10 days of their decision.

Sole Proprietorship – A sole proprietorship is a form of business organization in which an individual is fully and personally liable for all the obligations (including debts) of the business, is entitled to all of its profits, and exercises complete managerial control.

TIF – Tax Increment Financing – With normal financing, the government issues tax-exempt revenue bonds to finance public infrastructure redevelopment within a certain enterprise zone and allows repayment of the bonds based on increments of growth of the real property tax within a certain date. The District, however, is in a unique position to complement these infrastructure development tools by issuing up to $15 million of tax-exempt "Enterprise Zone (EZ) Facility Bonds" to assist in financing each qualified privately-owned facility. At the same time, each such business may claim annual federal employment tax credits, special expensing allowances, and other benefits during the five-year life of the EZ designation.

UC-30 Form – Employer’s Quarterly Contribution and Wage Report – This form is the Employer’s Quarterly Contribution and Wage Report available from the Department of Employment Services.

Waiver Application/Provision – This provision has been repealed pursuant to DC Official Code § 2132(d) of the Fiscal Year 2007 Budget Support Act of 2006, DC Act 16-476.

DC Department of Small and Local Business Development, Certification Division
441 4th Street, Suite 970N
Washington, DC 20001