The first step in participating in any PA DBE Supportive Services Program is completing the Annual Needs Assessment. The needs assessment needs to be completed every 9 months for DBE’s and SBE’s to remain eligible to receive full support services.
By completing The DBE Supportive Services Annual Needs Assessment every 9 months, certified PAUCP DBEs are eligible to have their $500 annual membership fee for ProRank Academy (PRA) paid for by the PA DBE Supportive Services Program. All certified PAUCP DBEs need to do is complete the survey every 9 months and take the Annual Needs Assessment Quiz 1.1.0 to inform us that they would like to have their PRA membership fee paid for by the PA DBE Supportive Services Program. And that’s it, the annual fee for ProRank Academy will automatically be handled by the DBE Supportive Services program.
A completed Annual Needs Assessment is the first step to being eligible to request training reimbursements through the PA DBE University Program. This program will be returning soon but is always contingent upon limited funding. This means having a completed needs assessment on file prior to submitting your reimbursement request could be the difference between your reimbursement being funded or the last of the funds being applied to another qualified reimbursement submission.
Once a Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE), Small Business Enterprise (SBE), or Diverse Business (DB) completes the Annual Needs Assessment, they will be eligible to receive One-on-One consultation via video conference meeting. The PA DBE Supportive Services Center (SSC) only schedules live video conferences for firms that have completed the Annual Needs Assessment. The DBE SSC staff is able to assist DBEs and SBEs with a number of resources once their assessments have been completed.
By completing the Annual Needs Assessment, The DBE Supportive Service Center will better understand who you are, where you are, and what you need. This will allow us to provide more targeted outreach and dissemination of technical information, training, and opportunities that are perfect for you. This means less wasted communication from us and less unwanted emails and announcements for you.