Buyer sourcing guide · South Carolina

How to Find Certified Diverse Suppliers in South Carolina

South Carolina's small and minority business certification sits with the Division of Small and Minority Business Contracting and Certification, now housed at the SC Commission for Community Advancement and Engagement, which publishes the full certified-business list for download.

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

Heads up

SCDOT's separate SCUCP DBE directory was offline for the federal DBE re-evaluation when we checked in July 2026; contact SCDOT's DBE office (DBECertification@scdot.gov) for a firm's current DBE status.

South Carolina state directories

Start with the official state directory. It lists firms South Carolina 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.

SC SMBCC Certified Business List

The Small Business Division page hosting the SMBCC certification list as a PDF and a searchable Excel download, last updated June 2, 2026. The old osmba.sc.gov and smbcc.sc.gov addresses redirect here.

Open the directory ↗

Carolinas-Virginia Minority Supplier Development Council

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

Carolinas-Virginia Minority Supplier Development Council ↗

Federal set-aside firms in South Carolina

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 South Carolina 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 South Carolina resources

A diverse business in South Carolina?

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 →