What is the 8(a) Program and is it right for your business?
The 8(a) Program is a nine-year program created to help firms owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals receive training and technical assistance designed to strengthen their ability to compete effectively in the American Government Contracting arena. Small business development is accomplished by providing various forms of management, technical, financial, and procurement assistance.
Furthermore, the SBA, or Small Business Association, partners with federal agencies to ensure equitable access to contracting opportunities in the federal marketplace for 8(a) program participants. Once certified, 8(a) program participants are eligible to receive federal contracting preferences and receive training and technical assistance designed to strengthen their ability to compete effectively for Government Contracting opportunities.
Those also eligible to participate in the 8(a) program are small businesses owned by Alaska Native corporations, Community Development Corporations, Indian tribes, and Native Hawaiian organizations.
Does this sound good to you and your business? With the one-on-one guidance of leading express, we will help prepare your application, and work with you every step of the way until your firm is accepted into the program.
What is our process?
The first step is to pre-qualify your company to determine if you meet all of the eligibility requirements. If you do not currently qualify, we will let you know why, and develop a plan to meet the requirements. All of this comes at no cost to you.
When fully eligible, we will request all of the information necessary for the application, and provide a prompt review. If any of the information does not meet the requirements, we will provide you with a workaround for any question or issue that might be posed by the SBA.
Once the process is complete, the documents will be uploaded to certify.sba.gov for an initial review by the SBA. Should your SBA Analyst require any additional documentation or pose any questions, we will respond to all requests as part of our service.