Government contracting can be a great way to grow your small business, and the Small Business Administration (SBA) offers several set-aside designations, including 8a certification, that can make it easier for small businesses to win contracts. The following information can help you determine which set-asides are the best fit for your business.
What Is A Set-Aside?
The federal government spends billions every year and it purchases virtually all of its goods and services from the private sector. Government contracts are the method by which these needs are fulfilled. In order to boost small businesses throughout the United States and its territories, some of these contracts are “set aside” specifically for small businesses. There are several different types of set-asides, including:
- Competitive Set-Asides: These contracts are exclusively for small businesses when at least two small businesses can perform the work or provide the products being purchased.
- Sole-Source Set-Asides: For purchases between $10,000 and $250,000, the federal government automatically sets these contracts aside for small businesses, given that there are at least two companies that can offer the product or service to federal agencies at a fair and reasonable price.
- Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) Set-Asides: These set-asides are aimed at businesses that are at least 51% owned by women, with 5% of federal set-aside dollars awarded to WOSB and Economically Disadvantaged Women-Owned Small Businesses (EDWOSB)3.
- Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Business Set-Asides: This program supports businesses owned by veterans with service-related disabilities.
- HUBZone Set-Asides: Businesses located in Historically Underutilized Business Zones can qualify for set-aside contracts to stimulate economic development in those areas.
Lastly, let’s talk about 8a Certification, which is yet another type of set-aside contract. This program is known officially as the 8(a) Business Development program. This program is designed to help small, disadvantaged businesses compete in the federal contractor marketplace. The key aspects of the program include:
- Eligibility: It’s for businesses that are at least 51% owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals. This includes African Americans, Native Americans, Hispanic Americans, people with disabilities, women and many other groups.
- Duration: Small business owners can remain in the program for up to nine years, with a transitional stage in the latter half to prepare for post-8(a) business.
- Mentor-Protégé Program: This allows established businesses to mentor 8(a) participants, providing guidance on how to navigate federal contracts, business management and technical assistance.
- Sole-Source Contracts: The program enables eligible businesses to receive sole-source government contracting jobs, up to a certain threshold, without having to deal with the competitive bidding process, which can be complicated.
- Competitive Set-Asides: 8(a) firms can compete for set-aside contracts within the program, in addition to the standard small business set-asides.
- Business Development: The SBA provides business development assistance, including training workshops, counseling, marketing assistance, and high-level executive development.
- Annual Review: Businesses in the program undergo annual reviews and systematic evaluations to ensure they meet the goals and criteria.
- Goals: The SBA aims to award at least 5% of federal contracting dollars to 8(a) firms annually. 8a contracts can be quite lucrative, providing you with an excellent source of income.
As you can see, the 8(a) program is a powerful tool for small, disadvantaged businesses to gain a foothold in government contracting and build their capabilities and financial viability in general.
SAM Registration Is Essential
Of course, if you plan on bidding on government contracts, including set-aside contracts, you will need to register with the System for Award Management (SAM). This database includes information about all government contractors, and you cannot do business with the federal government without an active SAM listing.
While the government does not charge a fee for SAM registration, the application process can be an extremely complicated and frustrating endeavor. To avoid the headaches, and the potentially 10 or more hours of work needed to complete your registration, many businesses hire a third-party SAM expert to complete this process.
We also can help you with SAM renewal, which must be completed every year. We recommend starting your SAM registration renewal several months before your listing expires. In some cases, if a federal procurement agent notices that your expiration is coming up soon, they will choose another business over yours because if your listing expires, they cannot do business with you at that point.
It can take several days or several weeks for SAM renewal approval, depending on the workload of the Federal Service Desk, which manages the SAM database. This is why early renewal is always the best strategy.
At Federal Contractor Registry (FCR), we can complete your SAM registration, and while we do charge a fee, our registration services are fast and 100% accurate. Our fee also includes several other value-added features.
For instance, we will help you attain your Unique Entity Identifier (UEI). This is a new requirement for new SAM registrants, and it can be a bit confusing to sign up, but we handle this process frequently, so we can take that step out of your hands.
Additionally, we also can help you fulfill the notarized letter requirement that is part of SAM registration. In order to complete your initial registration, you must submit a notarized letter to the federal government identifying the person in your company who is authorized to make changes to your SAM account. This person is known as an entity identifier.
When it comes to SBA programs, if you do qualify as a small business, we will help you sign up with the SBA and identify which set-aside designations are the best fit for your business, including SBA 8a certification. Linking your SBA account to your SAM account is an essential step in the SAM registration process and we will ensure that this is handled correctly so that you can take full advantage of these SBA programs.
For our Super 8a contractors, we also can introduce you to other federal contractors in our FCR network. The term “Super 8(a)” refers to businesses within the SBA’s 8(a) Business Development Program that are owned by Indian tribes, Alaskan Native Corporations (ANCs), and Native Hawaiian Organizations (NHOs). These groups are considered socially disadvantaged, and businesses they unconditionally own and control qualify for the Super 8(a) designation.
Super 8(a) businesses benefit from the ability to form joint ventures and receive sole-source government contract jobs above typical competitive thresholds, with certain limitations, to prevent abuse of this expedited acquisition path. The aim is to enhance the participation of these groups in federal contracting opportunities.
Get Started With Federal Contracting
If you are interested in bidding on government contracting jobs, especially set-asides, such as 8a certification, the team at FCR can help. We can provide you with fast, accurate SAM registration and sign you up with the SBA so that you can take advantage of all this federal agency has to offer. To get started, just click on the green New Registration tab.