Minimum eligibility requirements are set out at Iowa Code section 15.102.10 and include the following:

• Company is located (headquartered) in the state of Iowa.
• Company is operating for a profit
• Have an annual gross income of less than four million dollars computed as an average of the three preceding fiscal years. (Gross income means the total sales less the cost of goods sold, plus any income from investments and from incidentals or outside operations or sources.)
• Be owned, operated, and actively managed by a Targeted Group Person (TGP), which is one or more women, minority persons, persons with a disability, or service-disabled veterans.
  • A “minority person” means an individual who is and African American, Latino, Asian or Pacific Islander, American Indian or Alaskan Native American.
  • “Disability” means, with respect to an individual, a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities of the individual, a record of physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities of the individual, or being regarded as an individual with a physical impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities of the individual.
  • A “service disabled veteran” must have a service-connected disability that has been determined by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs or the U.S. Department of Defense.

Applicants also must meet all of the program’s certification eligibility standards found in 481 Iowa Administrative Code chapter 25, available online or by requesting a copy from this office.