Become Certified and Ready
to Win the Contract.
Certification can open new doors for your business, but it doesn't hand you the work. The Readiness Standard™ helps you build the systems, positioning, and confidence procurement buyers are actually evaluating, in partnership with nationally recognized MWBE expert Talia Johnson-Huff and the Women's Business Center at Canisius University.
I'm Ready to Get Certified
Prepare your business to compete for real contract opportunities.
The Readiness Standard™ is an eight-session accelerator where you'll strengthen every part of your business that procurement buyers evaluate, while completing or advancing your MWBE/SDVOB certification. You won't finish with a credential and a question mark. You'll finish with a capability statement, a pricing strategy, a compliance plan, and a clear roadmap for the opportunities ahead.
Because our goal isn't simply helping you get certified. Our goal is helping you get ready.
Over eight sessions, you'll build the readiness buyers are actually looking for.
Know what buyers are evaluating
Understand how agencies, prime contractors, and supplier-diversity professionals actually assess suppliers, looking well beyond the certification itself.
Build a capability statement that lands
Turn your track record into a professional, buyer-ready document that communicates value before the first conversation.
Navigate the procurement portals
Move through SAM.gov, the NYS Contract Reporter, and Empire State Certified with a step-by-step guide instead of guesswork.
Strengthen the systems buyers check
Get honest about pricing, cash flow, documentation, and compliance readiness before a buyer finds the gaps for you.
Turn certification into a credential that works
Understand how to leverage MWBE and SDVOB status as a growth strategy, not just a badge on your website.
Choose the right opportunities
Build a bid/no-bid framework so you pursue contracts you can actually perform, and pass on the ones you can't.
The Readiness Standard™ is built for a specific stage of the journey.
This program is right for you if…
- You've been in business at least 12 full months with an EIN.
- You do great work but keep getting overlooked by procurement buyers and prime contractors.
- You want an honest answer about whether your business is actually ready, not just eligible.
- You want a capability statement, a pricing strategy, and a compliance plan, not another workshop on terminology.
- You're ready to compete for government, institutional, or supplier-diversity contract work.
This program is not for you if…
- You are not veteran-owned or 51%+ woman-, minority-owned.
- You haven't started exploring certification yet. Start with the free MWBE & SDVOB Readiness Series first.
- You're expecting certification alone to generate contracts.
- You want general business coaching unrelated to procurement.
- You're not ready to do the readiness work between sessions.
Your eight-session certification and readiness bootcamp.
Duration
Eight (8) weekly sessions
Session length
2.5 hours per session
Location
Women's Business Center
Canisius University, Science Hall
1901 Main Street, Buffalo, NY 14208
(virtual option available)
Offered
Fall 2026 & Spring 2027
Fall 2026 session dates
All sessions meet on Tuesdays.
September 1, 2026
September 8, 2026
September 15, 2026
September 22, 2026
September 29, 2026
October 6, 2026
October 12, 2026
October 20, 2026
Optional: MWBE Conference, October 22, 2026
Time
5:30 – 8:00 PM
Fast-track your certification at the MWBE Conference
On October 22, 2026, join the Buffalo-Niagara MWBE Training Day Conference & Expo alongside agency representatives, prime contractors, and certification officials. It's the fastest way to move your submitted application forward and start turning certification into real conversations with the buyers you're trying to reach.
The founder behind The Readiness Standard™
When it comes to MWBE certification and procurement readiness, few people bring the same depth of experience as Talia Johnson-Huff. A nationally recognized leader in supplier diversity, construction, infrastructure, and procurement strategy, Talia has spent more than 20 years helping businesses navigate the path from certification to contract success.
What makes her perspective distinct is that she understands procurement from both sides of the table, as a successful entrepreneur and as a professional who evaluates contracting requirements and manages public-sector projects. She knows exactly what agencies, procurement professionals, and prime contractors look for when selecting the businesses they hire.
She created The Readiness Standard™ after watching too many business owners earn certification without receiving the guidance they needed to compete with confidence. Now, in partnership with the Women's Business Center at Canisius University, you'll have the opportunity to learn directly from one of the nation's leading voices in MWBE readiness and supplier development.
"It's an incredible opportunity to learn from an expert who has spent her career helping businesses become the kind of suppliers buyers are ready to hire."
This is the lowest The Readiness Standard™ will ever cost.
Founding cohorts get founding pricing: 50% off the standard rate, available only through registration close. After this cohort, the price returns to $794.
Until registration closes on August 28, 2026 at 11:59 PM
Everything included in your seat:
- Eight live 2.5-hour working sessions with Talia Johnson-Huff
- A completed certification readiness assessment
- A buyer-ready capability statement
- Guided setup on SAM.gov, NYS Contract Reporter & Empire State Certified
- A compliance readiness plan and sustainable pricing strategy
- Your certification application, submitted with expert guidance
- Ongoing connection to the full Women's Business Center ecosystem
Seats are limited to keep the room a true working session. Once registration closes on August 28, the founding price closes with it.