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8(a) The SBA's 8(a) Program, named for a section of the Small Business Act, is a business development program created to help small disadvantaged businesses compete in the American economy and access the federal procurement market. To participate in the 8(a) Program, a firm must be certified by the SBA.
8(a) Business To participate in the 8(a) Program, a firm must be certified by the SBA. To qualify, the firm:
  1. must be a small business,
  2. must be unconditionally owned and controlled by one or more socially and economically disadvantaged individuals who are of good character and citizens of the United States, and
  3. must demonstrate potential for success.
ARO Federal Agency Registration Officials (AROs). The ARO is responsible for managing the Business Partner Network (BPN) registration of agency buying and selling organizations engaged in Federal intragovernmental transactions.
CAGE Code The Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) code is a five character ID number used extensively within DoD and NASA.
IAE's relationship to a universal electronic 'contract writing' tools? IAE is NOT designing one universal contract writing system for use by all federal contracting officers to set up a solicitation/contract. The IAE is working with all the commercial providers of this type of software application to address the needs from a government-wide perspective. If there is any company in this line of work with whom we have not shared the IAE requirements, we are available to include them in the discussion roundtable sessions.
IAE's plans to have a contract writing system "all inclusive" such that the contracting officer doesn't need to leave his/her workspace or desktop to go to another site to get something? We need an easier way for all the shared services the IAE provides to be available to the contracting officers in their day-to-day tasks. Specifically the IAE oversees the applications that provide the portions of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) process that all agencies do in a similar manner. Examples are posting a synopsis, using contractor data, and sharing a performance evaluation. Currently a contracting officer in the process of conducting a procurement must go in and out of several websites to perform a specific task. Some day, we would like them simply to open their systems and be able to access from their primary work environment all the functionality of the various tools available.
CCR Central Contractor Registration (CCR). The FAR requires contractor registration in the Central Contractor Registration (CCR) database prior to award of any contract, basic agreement, basic ordering agreement, or blanket purchase agreement on or after October 1, 2003. It also is required for certain grants applications.
eBUY eBuy, is an electronic Request for Quote (RFQ) / Request for Proposal (RFP) system designed to allow federal buyers to request information, find sources, and prepare RFQs/RFPs, online, for millions of services and products offered through GSA's Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) program.
EPLS The Excluded Parties Listing Systems (EPLS) is the electronic version of the Lists of Parties Excluded from Federal Procurement and Nonprocurement Programs (Lists), which identifies those parties excluded throughout the U.S. Government (unless otherwise noted) from receiving Federal contracts or certain subcontracts and from certain types of Federal financial and nonfinancial assistance and benefits.
FAR The Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) is located on Acquisition Central.
FedReg Federal Agency Registration. OMB Memorandum M-03-01 requires all government agencies that engage in buying or selling goods/services to other federal agencies to register in the Federal Agency Registration database (FedReg).
FOIA The 1966 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) permits any person to request access to federal agency records or information. Federal agencies are required to disclose records upon receipt of a written request, except for records that are protected from disclosure by nine exemptions or three exclusions in the Act. Persons are also able to request documents in an electronic format under the 1996 Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments (EFOIA). Each federal agency is responsible for meeting its FOIA responsibilities for its own records. For FOIA requests relevant to IAE systems, visit one of the links below and click on FOIA Request:
  1. CCR
  2. FedReg
  3. FedBizOpps
  4. FedTeDS
  5. WDOL
  6. ORCA
  7. EPLS
  8. FPDS-NG
  9. Past Performance System
  10. eSRS
HUBZone Business Program The program encourages economic development in historically underutilized business zones - "HUBZones" - through the establishment of preferences. Firms must be certified by the SBA in order to participate.
HUBZone Business To be certified as a HUBZone Business, the firm must be a small business and:
  1. it must be located in a "historically underutilized business zone" or HUBZone.
  2. it must be owned and controlled by one or more US Citizens, and at least 35% of its employees must reside in a HUBZone.
What is the complete offering of IAE applications? Links are provided under Acquisition Systems.
JWOD The independent federal agency that administers the Javits-Wagner-O'Day (JWOD). The Committee's mission is to create employment opportunities for people who are blind or hav other severe disabilities by educating federal customers about their requirement to purchase products and services made available by nonprofit agencies across the country employing such individuals.
MPIN Marketing Partner ID (MPIN) is a personal code that allows a CCR registrant to access other government applications such as the Past Performance Information Retrieval System (PPIRS), FedTeDS, ORCA, and grants.gov.
NAICS The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) is an industry classification system used by the statistical agencies of the United States for classifying business establishments.
ORCA Online Representations and Certifications Application replaces most of the paper based Representations and Certifications (Reps and Certs) in Section K of solicitations with an Internet application.
PSC Product Service Code. PSC's are categorizations of what the U.S. Government buys. They consist of:
-Federal Supply Classification Codes (FSC) for commodities.
-Research and Development codes cover all aspects of research, development, and evaluation (including management and support).
-Services include all other non-tangible services and purchase or lease of buildings.
SDB Small Disadvantaged Business Concern A small business concern that is at least 51 percent owned by one or more individuals who are both socially and economically disadvantaged. This can include a publicly owned business that has at least 51 percent of its stock unconditionally owned by one or more socially and economically disadvantaged individuals and whose management and daily business is controlled by one or more such individuals.
Certified SDB A Small Disadvantaged Business Concern that is certified by the SBA. SBA certifies SDBs to make them eligible for special bidding benefits
Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business A business which qualifies as a small business and is 51% unconditionally owned and controlled by one or more person(s) who served in the Active Military , Naval, or Air Service, and who was discharged or released under conditions other than dishonorable, and whose disability was incurred or aggravated in line of duty in the active military, Naval, or Air Service, or in the case of permanent or severe disability, the spouse or permanent care giver of such veteran.
Set Asides Under the Small Business Act, federal agencies conduct a variety of procurements that are reserved exclusively for small business participation. These transactions are called "small business set-asides" and include the Small Business Reserve, Set-Asides above the simplified acquisition threshold, the Small Business Competitiveness Demonstration Program, the HUBZone Empowerment Contracting Program, and the Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business Program.
SIC The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) has replaced the U.S. Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system.
"Small Business" A small business is a concern that is organized for profit, with a place of business in the United States, and which operates primarily within the United States or makes a significant contribution to the U.S. economy through payment of taxes or use of American products, materials or labor. Further, the concern cannot be dominant in its field, on a national basis. Finally, the concern must meet the numerical small business size standard for its industry. SBA has established a size standard for most industries in the U.S. economy.
Small Business Assistance SBA offers assistance on starting, financing, managing, and your business, as well as business opportunities with the federal government.
Small Business Size Standard The term "size standard" describes the numerical definition of a small business. In other words, a business is considered "small" if it meets or is below an established "size standard."
Small Business Size Standard Table SBA's Table of Small Business Size Standards based on the North American Classification System (NAICS) codes
TPIN Trading Partner Identification Number (TPIN). The TPIN is your confidential password to change your Central Contractor Registration (CCR) information. The TPIN is not to be used on contracts or other government paperwork.
If you cannot remember your TPIN number, click on https://www.bpn.gov/ccr/scripts/indexTPIN.asp.
UNSPSC The United Nations Standard Products and Services Code is a hierarchical convention that is used to classify all products and services. GSA Advantage and DoD EMALL currently use UNSPSC for products and services.
Veterans Assistance Click on "Business Opportunities" at the Veterans Administration website.

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