{"id":20521,"date":"2026-06-24T10:15:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T15:15:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tilt-up.org\/tilt-uptoday\/?p=20521"},"modified":"2026-06-24T10:15:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T15:15:10","slug":"needham-dbs-achieves-wbenc-certification","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tilt-up.org\/tilt-uptoday\/2026\/06\/24\/needham-dbs-achieves-wbenc-certification\/","title":{"rendered":"Needham DBS Achieves WBENC Certification"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Needham DBS has been certified as a Women’s Business Enterprise (WBE) by WBDC-Midwest, a regional certifying partner of the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The certification recognizes businesses that are at least 51 percent owned, operated, and controlled by women and requires a comprehensive review of ownership, governance, financial control, and operational decision-making.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the firm, the certification reflects years of leadership and stewardship by President and CEO Karen Hand, P.E., and CFO Susan Fox Sherry, CPA, CGMA, as well as a deliberate ownership transition and succession planning process designed to ensure long-term continuity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“For more than thirty years, Needham DBS has been built on sound engineering judgment, clear leadership, and professional integrity,” said Hand. “Over the past decade, we’ve intentionally transitioned ownership through a structured succession plan\u2014ensuring continuity of values while strengthening governance and leadership for the next generation of leaders. WBENC certification formally recognizes the structure and leadership in place today.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Needham DBS provides structural engineering and design-build services and has been an active member of the Tilt-Up Concrete Association for many years. The firm noted that WBENC certification provides access to professional development opportunities, supplier diversity networks, and business growth resources available through the national WBENC community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hand is a TCA Fellow and currently serves on the Association’s Executive Committee as Past President. She was the second female president in the history of the Tilt-Up Concrete Association.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WBENC certification is widely recognized as the leading certification standard for women-owned businesses in the United States.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Needham DBS has achieved WBENC certification, recognizing the firm’s women-owned leadership structure, governance, and long-term commitment to professional excellence.<\/div>\n

Read more…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":20522,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,375],"tags":[805,803,801,799,804,807,650,798,725,806,800,802],"class_list":["post-20521","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-member_news","category-community-culture","tag-business-leadership","tag-design-build","tag-karen-hand","tag-member-news","tag-needham-dbs","tag-professional-recognition","tag-structural-engineering","tag-supplier-diversity","tag-tca-member-news","tag-wbenc","tag-women-in-construction","tag-womens-business-enterprise"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tilt-up.org\/tilt-uptoday\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20521","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tilt-up.org\/tilt-uptoday\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tilt-up.org\/tilt-uptoday\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tilt-up.org\/tilt-uptoday\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tilt-up.org\/tilt-uptoday\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20521"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tilt-up.org\/tilt-uptoday\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20521\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20523,"href":"https:\/\/tilt-up.org\/tilt-uptoday\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20521\/revisions\/20523"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tilt-up.org\/tilt-uptoday\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20522"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tilt-up.org\/tilt-uptoday\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20521"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tilt-up.org\/tilt-uptoday\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20521"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tilt-up.org\/tilt-uptoday\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20521"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}