Oklahoma Small Business Resource Guide - SBA

CONTRACTING
who are socially and economically
disadvantaged.
There is a federal government-wide
goal of awarding at least 5 percent of
prime contracting dollars to SDBs each
year. Large prime contractors must
also establish a subcontracting goal for
SDBs in their Subcontracting Plans.
Firms self-certify as SDB without
submitting any application to SBA;
however, firms approved by SBA into
the 8(a) Business Development program
are automatically certified as an SDB.
To self-certify, firms should update their
CCR profiles and update their ORCA
profiles, making sure that both profiles
reflect their SDB status.
SERVICE-DISABLED VETERAN-
OWNED SMALL BUSINESS
The Service-Disabled Veteran-
Owned Small Business (SDVOSB)
program has a federal government-wide
goal of awarding at least 3 percent
of prime and subcontracting dollars
to Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned
Small Businesses each year. Large
prime contractors must also establish a
subcontracting goal for Veteran-
Owned Small Businesses in their
Subcontracting Plans. These
subcontracting goals are reviewed at
time of proposal by both the contracting
officer and SBA prior to the award of a
contract.
The SDVOSB Protest is administered
by SBA to ensure that only businesses
owned by service-disabled veterans
receive contracts reserved exclusively
for them. When a business’s SDVOSB
self-certification is challenged, SBA
determines if the business meets
the status, ownership, and control
requirements.
To determine your eligibility,
contact your local veterans’ business
development officer, visit the
various program websites, or contact
SBA’s Office of Veterans Business
Development at www.sba.gov/aboutoffices-content/1/2985.
WOMEN-OWNED
SMALL BUSINESS
FEDERAL CONTRACT PROGRAM
On October 7, 2010, the SBA
published a final rule effective February
4, 2011, aimed at expanding federal
contracting opportunities for womenowned
small businesses. The Women-
Owned Small Business (WOSB)
34 — Small Business Resource OKLAHOMA
Federal Contract program authorizes
contracting officers to set aside certain
federal contracts for eligible womenowned
businesses and economically
disadvantaged women-owned small
businesses.
To be eligible, a firm must be at least
51 percent owned or controlled by one
or more women. The women must be
U.S. citizens. The firm must be “small”
in its primary industry in accordance
with SBA’s size standards for that
industry. To be deemed “economically
disadvantaged” its owners must
demonstrate economic disadvantage in
accordance with the requirements set
forth in the final rule. For additional
information, visit www.sba.gov/content/
contracting-opportunities-women-ownedsmall-businesses.
Large prime contractors must also
establish a subcontracting goal for
Woman-Owned Small Businesses in
their Subcontracting Plans. These
subcontracting goals are reviewed at
time of proposal by both the contracting
officer and SBA prior to the award of a
contract.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT
YOUR BUSINESS
To be eligible to bid on a federal
contract, you must know your
business. Answer the following three
questions:
1. Are you a small business?
Is your small business:
• Organized for profit?
• Located in the U.S.?
• Operated primarily within the U.S. or
making a significant contribution to
the U.S. economy through payment
of taxes or use of American products,
materials, or labor?
• Independently owned and operated?
• Not dominant in the field of operation
in which it is bidding for government
contracts?
• A sole proprietorship, partnership,
corporation, or any other legal form?
If the first six criteria apply to your
business, ask yourself the second
important question to find out if
your business meets size standard
requirements.
2. What is the size standard for your
business?
Size standards are used to
determine whether a business is small
or “other than small.” Size standards
vary depending upon the industry. To
determine the size standard for your
business, you will need a NAICS code.
Every federal agency uses these codes
when considering your business. To
determine your NAICS code, go to
www.census.gov/eos/www/naics/. Some
SBA programs require their own
unique size standards. To find out
more about these requirements and
other size standard information, go to
www.sba.gov/size.
3. Do you fall under a specific
certification?
Under the umbrella of “small
business,” SBA has outlined several
specific certifications that businesses
may fall under. These certifications
are divided into two categories:
SBA-Certified and Self-Certified.
The SBA-Certified Programs were
created to assist specific businesses
in securing federal contracts and
therefore can only be issued by SBA
administrators. For the Self-Certified
Programs, you can determine for
yourself if your business meets the
requirements by referring to the
Federal Acquisition Regulations
(FAR).
Just as Congress has given federal
agencies a goal of procuring 23
percent of federal contracts from
small businesses, so too must federal
agencies meet specific contracting
goals for other categories of small
firms. These goals are:
• 23 percent of contracts from Small
Businesses
• 5 percent of contracts go to Small
Disadvantaged Businesses
• 5 percent go to Women-Owned Small
Businesses
• 3 percent go to Service-Disabled
Veteran-Owned Small Businesses
• 3 percent go to HUBZone Small
Businesses
Federal agencies have a strong
incentive to fulfill these contracting
goals. You should apply for those
SBA-Certified and Self-Certified
programs for which you qualify
to take advantage of contracting
opportunities.
Visit us online: www.sba.gov/ok