Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - As the bidding continues for the Buffalo Bills' stadium project, one female business owner says she's fighting to get Women Business Enterprise status from the state to help her chances.
Jen Kuhn owns 51% of Hamburg Overhead Door with her brother Jason, owning 49%. Despite that, New York has not granted her WBE status.
"He does work with the installers in the field, but they feel that because I'm not working directly with the installers or installing the product myself in the field, I'm not qualified for women-owned status," said Kuhn in an interview with WBEN.
That decision insults Kuhn, as she says she's shadowed her father for nearly 20 years before taking over the business. Kuhn adds there's more to running a business than just installing the product in the field.
Kuhn is bidding on installing 200 overhead doors for the new stadium project, and notes the Bills would love to have more local and women-owned businesses work on the project. She says the Bills are sympathetic to her plight.
"We're hoping that by having an article out in the press, that [New York State] can just take a look at the system," Kuhn contended. "The system is broken, and really could use some fixing."
The Bills are operating under the fact Kuhn does not have WBE status for her business.
When it comes to the application process, Kuhn says it's frustrating, as she deals with a lot of paperwork.
"There's no phone interviews and there's no in-person visits. So it's very frustrating that we're judged as women owners in construction with family members in the field based on just paper," Kuhn explained.
Kuhn is hopeful things can change with her status, allowing her to get her company on track to work with the Bills.