Buyer sourcing guide · Massachusetts

How to Find Certified Diverse Suppliers in Massachusetts

The Massachusetts Supplier Diversity Office certifies minority-, women-, veteran-, and Portuguese-owned firms in-house and recognizes third-party SDVOBE, LGBTBE, and DOBE certifications. MassDOT's MassUCP office runs the state's DBE program, and one searchable directory covers all eleven certification types.

By Mario Bailey, Editor-in-Chief · Reviewed against official Massachusetts and federal sources · Last verified July 2026

Massachusetts state directories

Start with the official state directory. It lists firms Massachusetts has certified, and it is the source public buyers and prime contractors use to confirm a firm counts toward state and federally funded contract goals.

Massachusetts SDO Directory of Certified Businesses

The Supplier Diversity Office's public directory covers MBE, WBE, VBE, PBE, SDVOBE, DOBE, LGBTBE, SBE, DBE, ACDBE, and SBPP certifications, searchable by NAICS code, region, keyword, and radius from an address, with PDF and Excel export.

Open the directory ↗

New England Business Growth Collective (formerly Greater New England MSDC)

The regional National Minority Supplier Development Council affiliate serving Massachusetts. Corporate buyers source certified Minority Business Enterprises (MBEs) through its network.

New England Business Growth Collective (formerly … ↗

Federal set-aside firms in Massachusetts

For federal contracts and subcontracting plans, search SAM.gov and filter by location and socioeconomic status: 8(a), Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB), Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned (SDVOSB), and HUBZone. These are separate from the state and council certifications above, and buyers count them differently.

Verify before you rely on a certification

A certificate on its own is not proof. Before you count a Massachusetts supplier toward a diverse spend goal or a subcontracting plan:

  1. Confirm the record is active, not expired, in the issuing directory above.
  2. Check the certification type matches what your program counts. MBE, DBE, WOSB, and CBE are not interchangeable.
  3. Keep a dated screenshot or export of the directory record for your compliance file.

More Massachusetts resources

A diverse business in Massachusetts?

Get certified so buyers find you in these directories. Our guide covers every certification, what it costs, and how to apply.

How to get certified →