Minority & Women Owned Business Enterprises & Section 3 Employment Opportunities

The Orange County Office of Community Development (OCD) works to ensure that minority and women owned business enterprises (MBE-WBE) are given an opportunity to bid on projects financed by HUD funds, pursuant to Executive Orders 11625, 12432 and 12138 and 24 CFR 85.36(e). In addition, under Section 3 of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968, wherever certain HUD financial assistance is given and exceeds thresholds which trigger Section 3, economic opportunities will be given, to the greatest extent feasible, to low income local residents and businesses.

You can visit the NYS Empire Development/ Division of Minority and Women-Owned Business Development (DMWBD) website. On this newly designed webpage, you will find information related to the certification process, resources for technical assistance, MWBE Events, and a certified vendor registry search tool to help you find New York State certified MBE-WBEs.

Orange County Office of Community Development Section 3 Requirement Summary

Section 3 contributes to the establishment of stronger, more sustainable communities by ensuring that employment and other economic opportunities generated by Federal financial assistance for housing and community development programs are, to the greatest extent feasible and consistent with existing Federal, state, and local laws and regulations, directed toward low- and very low-income persons.  Section 3 applies to training or employment arising in connection with housing rehabilitation, housing construction, or other public construction projects that are awarded more than $200,000 of CDBG or HOME funding.

Per 24 CFR 75.3(a)(iii), Section 3 requirements apply to the entire project, not just the HUD-funded portion.  All recipients of HUD funding, their contractors, and subcontravtors need to comply with Section 3 requirements.  If the recipient's reporting indicates that the recipient has not met the Section 3 benchmarks, the recipient must report on their qualitative efforts to outreach and assist Section 3 workers and business concerns and those its contractors and subcontractors pursued.

In accordance with 24 CFR 75.25(a), recipients of HUD funding must report the following labor hours for Section 3 projects:

1. The total number of labor hours worked by all workers (including total hours worked by all contractors and subcontractors on entire project not just the HUD funded portion)

2.  The total number of labor hours worked by Section 3 workers (including total hours worked by all Section 3 workers on entire project not just the HUD funded portion) and

3,  The total number of labor hours worked by Targeted Section 3 workers (including total hours worked by all Targeted Section 3 workers on entire project not just the HUD funded portion).

The following two benchmarks apply to each Section 3 project:

Benchmark 1: Twenty-five percent (25%) or more of the total number of labor hours worked by all workers on a Section3 project must be done by Section 3 workers (this includes all non-Hud funded labor hours)                                                                              Section 3 Labor Hours/Total Labor Hours = 25% and

Benchmark 2: Five percent (5%) or more of the total number of labor hours worked by all workers on a Section 3 project must be done by Targeted Section 3 workers                                                                                                                                                      Targeted Section 3 Labor Hours/Total Labor Hours = 5%

Section 3 Reporting Form & Greatest Extent Feasible Efforts Checklist applies to all Section 3 projects and must be filled out by all entities including the Municipality, Contractor, Subcontractors, Developers, Owners and Subrecipients.

Municipalities, Subrecipients, Developers/Owners, Contractors, and Subcontractors are all obligated Section 3 Participants.  Each participant must designate a Section 3 Coordinator for the project.

Click Here for the Orange County Section 3 Requirements