New York SBDC Research Network

Your opinion is important! The Small Business Administration (SBA) wants your input on how to design and implement a federal Women-Owned Small Businesses (WOSB) certification process to replace self-certification.  The SBA is seeking input and comments on certification of WOSB and Economically Disadvantaged Women-Owned Small Businesses (EDWOSB) in connection with the WOSB Federal Contract Program (set asides, sole source, etc).  SBA is planning to amend its regulations to implement section 825 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015 (2015 NDAA), which  removed the statutory authority allowing WOSBs and EDWOSBs to self-certify.  SBA intends to draft regulations to implement the statutory changes.

From the Small Business Administration : If you’re a small business owner interested in making the federal government one of your next customers, you can benefit greatly from certifying your business first. Many government agencies require that a certain percentage of its work is set aside for small businesses (and woman-owned, veteran-owned and more), so certifying your business can help you successfully compete for government contracts. These resources can help: When and How to Register Your Business as a “Small Business” – Get the scoop on small business certification from this blog post, concerning D-U-N-S number and the System for Award Management (SAM) Am I a Small Business? – Make sure you meet the qualifications for "small" before you certify and register your business. Register for Government Contracting – As you register for government contracting, you'll also be "self-certifying" your business as small. You can also read up

Empire State Development, New York City Small Business Services and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey have joined up to make the certification process even easier. One application to submit for all three MWBE certification programs. Complete instructions are included in the Standard Application . If you are currently certified as an MBE, WBE, MWBE, DBE or are part of the Federal 8(a) Business Development Programs you may be able to use the Fast Track Certification Applications . 2012 Incentives for MWBE Growth New MWBE Regulations New York State Contract Reporter is New York’s official publication of state procurement opportunities from state agencies, public authorities and public benefit corporations. Check out the website .

I've written here before about the fact that, unlike for women-owned, or minority-owned businesses, there is no certification, as such, for small business in New York State. Yet, certain vendors that offer set-asides for small businesses are looking for such documentation; calls to our office confirm this trend. Generally speaking, most government procurement entities allow for self-certification; what one US President once called "trust but verify." It appears, though, that some companies have decided to have small business set-asides, and erroneously believe that ALL states have a more systematic procedure, as California reportedly does, or did. What is a small business to do? If the business is listed in a database such as Reference USA or a Dun & Bradstreet product, perhaps a record from those sources would do. Perhaps a file business certificate a/k/a a DBA, might be enough. But maybe not. My favorite suggestion, from one of our SBDC advisors, which

I've gotten this question a couple times now this summer, so I thought I ought to address it here. Q: There are women-owned certification programs, minority-owned certification programs, and small business disadvantaged certification programs,, such as 8(a). Is there a small business certification program? If not, how do those programs that require small businesses fill them? A: According to my sources - the SBA and a very nice woman at the NFIB - there is no small business certification as such, as there are women, minority and small disadvantaged programs. Wait, you say, so how do they get SB for contracts, etc.? They assume they are telling the truth, but then require documentation (payroll records, tax records, etc.) to make sure. Trust but verify. BTW, it’s the same for veterans – no certification, but one will need to bring in the documentation at some point.