What You Need to Know if You are a Women – Owned Small Business
Program Eligibility
To be eligible for the WOSB program:
- The firm must be at least 51% owned and controlled by one or more women;
- The firm must be primarily managed by one or more women;
- The women who own and control the firm must be U.S. citizens;
- The firm must be small in its primary industry in accordance with SBA’s size standards for that industry.
In addition to the above, in order for a WOSB to be deemed an “economically disadvantaged” women-owned business (EDWOSB), its owner(s) must demonstrate economic disadvantage in accordance with the requirements set forth in 13 C.F.R. 127.203.
What are the conditions that you must meet to be considered to be “economically disadvantaged” for the EDWOSB Program?
- Your personal* assets, excluding the value of any IRA or 401-k retirement funds must be less than $6,000,000.
- Your personal* net worth, excluding the value of any IRA or 401-k retirement funds, your equity interest in your primary residence and the market value of your business must be less than $850,000.
- Your personal* Adjusted Gross Income, as shown on Line 37 of your IRS Form 1040 must average less than $400,000 over the last 3 tax years.
*Personal” means just that. If you are married, these assets or liabilities do not include those of your spouse. Any assets or liabilities jointly held are divided in half for “economically disadvantaged’ calculation purposes.
Am I Eligible for the WOSB Contracting Program?
WOSB Program Certification
To be eligible to compete for WOSB set-asides, you may utilize the services of my firm The 8(a) Authority to prepare your certification in 10 days or less, with a 100% money-back guarantee if for any reason you are deemed to be not-qualified after we accept you as our client.
The Federal Register Notice listing the new authorized NAICS codes designated for EDWOSB and for WOSB set-asides under the WOSB Program is here:
5 Steps to participate in the WOSB Federal Contracting Program:
Register in the System for Award Management (SAM.gov).
Note: Your SAM.gov registration status must be “Active” for at least 24 hours in order for the records to be available in certify.SBA.gov.
Create a new user account at certify.SBA.gov. You will be prompted to create a UserID and a passphrase. Log onto SBA’s certify.SBA.gov. Once you log into the system, you will be required to associate your business’s information with the UserID that you just created. In order to associate your new account with the information and documents from the old system, you will need to input the following information – this information should exactly match your record in SAM.gov:
- Your primary DUNS number
- Your Marketing Partner ID Number (MPIN) number (see below for further information)
- Your Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) number (may be your Social Security Number (SSN) or Employer Identification Number (EIN))
Please make sure that *all* information appears exactly as it does in your SAM.gov profile (e.g. no dashes or spaces). The MPIN is case sensitive.
An MPIN is a personal code that you created while registering in SAM.gov. To view your company’s MPIN:
- Go to the SAM.gov Homepage: www.sam.gov
- Enter your user ID and password, then click the “Log In” button
- View the Business Information Page to locate your MPIN
Applicants are required to complete and submit the new online versions of the SBA Form 2413 (for WOSBs) or the SBA Forms 2414 and 413 (for EDWOSBs). You may initiate the process by clicking the link from the Dashboard to begin your self-certification.
- If you had already created an account in the legacy Woman Owned Small Business Program Repository (decommissioned on March 23rd, 2016), you will be prompted to associate the documents from the legacy system or upload new ones as you are completing the questionnaire(s).
- If it is your first time registering in the new certify.sba.gov system, you will be able to upload new documents as you are completing the questionnaire(s).
Update your profile in the System for Award Management (SAM) to certify that you have uploaded all required documentation.
All eligible WOSBs and EDWOSBs who would like to participate in the program must complete the online Certification Forms in certify.sba.gov as applicable.
Why You Should Get Your WOSB or EDWOSB Certification:
- Win set-aside federal contracts worth up to $4 million & $6.5 million for manufacturing (federal goal 5%).
- Win subcontracting projects with large prime contractors (subcontracting mandate 5%).
- Equal the playing field with other programs such as HUBZone, SDVOSB & 8a
- Future Mentor Protégé program for ED/WOSB.
- New easier processes and guidelines for contracting officers to award set-aside contracts to WOSB’s.
- No term limit in the program; for as long as you are a small business, you will remain in the program.
- No 2 year wait period; you can start a new woman owned business today and get certified the next day.
- Limited competition; less than 1% of woman businesses are certified with the ED/WOSB certification.