ReleaseWire

ABAC Launches MWOB 9009 to Support Minority Woman-Owned Businesses

The American Board of Accredited Certifications introduces MWOB 9009-2013, a quality management program for Minority Woman-Owned Businesses.

Posted: Wednesday, November 12, 2014 at 1:17 PM CST

New York, NY -- (ReleaseWire) -- 11/12/2014 --The nation's leading accreditation group, the American Board of Accredited Certifications (ABAC™) announced today the official release of MWOB 9009:2013, a quality certification program specifically for Minority Woman Owned Businesses following the ISO (International Standards Organization) methodologies. According to ABAC spokeswoman Maria Santos, MWOB 9009 is an industry, socially and economically specific standard developed to support and accredit the quality management system (QMS) of businesses owned by minority woman involved in the fields of manufacturing, import/export, consultation, retail, wholesale, food services, hospitality, real estate, advertising, financial, legal services and other sectors.

Santos said MWOB 9009-2013 certification (http://aboac.org/minority-woman-owned-business-mwob-9009/) requires an independent review process designed to confirm that a company is actually owned, controlled, and operated by the applicants. If qualified, the program begins as a quality management consultation process and evolves into a fully accredited 3rd party certification based on the ISO 9001:2008 standard. To qualify, the business owner must be a U.S. citizen or legal resident alien, and must provide clear and documented evidence that the entity is at least 51% owned, managed or controlled by a minority woman, and established for at least six months.

“MWOB 9009-2013 was developed out of necessity because some minority woman-owned businesses in the United States are presumed to be socially and economically disadvantaged, including African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Native Americans, Asian Pacific Americans and Subcontinent Asian Americans.” said Santos. She concluded, “MWOB 9009 was created to help provide affordable business development assistance, specifically in quality management, and completely prepares businesses to achieve ISO 9001:2008 certification, as well as several industry specific certifications such as ISO 14001 (Environmental Management), AS 9001 Rev C (Aerospace), ISO 13485 (Medical), TS 16949 (Automotive), and SQF 2000 (Safe Quality Food).”

“In order to maintain the strictest quality control, and ensure the integrity of program, MWOB 9009 certifications can only be issued by registrars accredited by the American Board of Accredited Certifications,” said Laticia Washington, Regional Director for the MWOB 9009 program. According to Ms. Washington, there are currently 9 certification bodies (CB's) nationwide that are accredited and authorized to issue MWOB 9009 certificates. All authentic MWOB 9009 certificates will have the ABAC trademark.

Minority woman-owned businesses interested in certification may submit an application for consideration at http://www.aboac.org/mwob.html All applicants are held strictly confidential.

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