To be certified under a status such as woman-owned, service-disabled veteran-owned, or minority-owned, the qualifying person generally must own 51% or more of the company and, for SBA certification programs, be a US citizen.
Ownership structure details matter. Shares can be structured with or without voting rights, and the operating agreement defines operational control, so a company can add a qualifying majority shareholder while day-to-day decision-making is set out separately. If clearly signaling the status matters, owning comfortably above the 51% threshold makes the intent unambiguous.
Also worth knowing: some contracts do not require you to hold the certification at all. Certain solicitations only require that a minimum percentage of the work go to a given business category, which means partnering or subcontracting arrangements can satisfy the requirement.
Because structure choices are hard to unwind later, the program coaches members on whether and how to set this up for their specific situation before filing anything.