Office of Small Business

Fueling Dreams. Supporting Growth. Building Kansas’ Future.

The Office of Small Business is dedicated to empowering small businesses with the resources, connections and support they need to thrive. By fostering innovation and driving economic growth, through resources such as NetWork Kansas, we help entrepreneurs transform their ideas into impactful ventures that shape the future of Kansas.

For inquiries about certifications and other services offered, please contact Director Laurie Pieper at [email protected]. To access the Certification portal, ここをクリック. To search the directory, ここをクリック.

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266,816 中小企業

583,244 small business employees

99.1% of Kansas businesses are small businesses

49.1% of Kansas employees work in small businesses

Unsure where to start?

Kansas runs on small business and ConnectKS is your starting point. Whether you’re launching, growing, or simply exploring your next move, we connect small business owners, entrepreneurs, and community builders with the resources, relationships, and opportunities they need to thrive. This is more than a platform it’s the heart of Kansas’s small business ecosystem. Let’s build a stronger, more connected Kansas together.

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Kansas RISE

The Kansas Recognized In-state Small Enterprise (RISE) Program is a program run by the Office of Small Business at Kansas Department of Commerce that certifies small businesses in Kansas as small enterprises falling into one of three size tiers:

Tier I: 1 – 24 employees
Tier II: 25 – 99 employees
Tier III: 100 employees up to industry cap per U.S. SBA size standards

In addition to offering the size-based certifications, three ownership-based RISE certifications are available:

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Kansas RISE

Who is eligible?

Businesses that have headquarters or operations in Kansas that fall within the U.S. SBA size standards and have at least 51% of employees based in Kansas.

Who should apply?

RISE certifications are primarily intended to help increase opportunities for Kansas-based small businesses to engage in corporate and government contracting. Small businesses that are competing for or intend to compete for these contracts should apply for certification.

RISE certifications may also be utilized by companies that are wanting to market themselves as small businesses, veteran-owned small businesses, woman-owned small businesses, or minority-owned small businesses.

Certified businesses are listed in the Small Business Directory maintained by the Office of Small Business to help Kansas RISE businesses be found by procurement offices. The directory can be searched by industry codes and by certifications.

How to apply?

Applications are accepted through the application portal.

Prior to starting the application process, businesses should collect any applicable documents that they will be requested to upload. These include the following:

Primary owner’s government-issued identification
Business formation documents such as Articles of Incorporation, Articles of Organization, and Operating Agreement.
Past 1-3 years of Federal Income Tax Returns for the business, depending on how long the business has been open. (Businesses that have been open for less than three years will not be able to provide three years of returns.)
Past year of Federal Employers Tax Returns, if filing annually, or past year plus most recent quarter, if filing quarterly.
Tax Clearance Certificate from the State of Kansas.
Professional licenses
State or local licenses
Insurance and bonding
Proof of property ownership or lease agreement
Organizational chart (for ownership-based certifications)
Banking signatory authority (for ownership-based certifications)
Proof of veteran status (for veteran-owned certifications)

After submitting their application, businesses may be requested to provide further information as needed.

Kansas Department of Commerce reserved the right to adjust any given business’s RISE certification Tier, as appropriate. Certifications require annual renewal.

For more information or questions about how to apply, contact Katrina O’Hara Gray