8(a)  Business Development Program – An SBA program for small concerns owned by socially and economically disadvantaged persons.  Firms admitted to the program can receive Federal contracts designated for 8(a) Business Development Program participants, as well as management and technical assistance.  (See SDB Program, below.)

Affiliates –  Affiliation with another business concern is based on the power to control, whether exercised or not.  Such factors as common ownership, common management and identity of interest (often found in members of the same family), among others, are indicators of affiliation.  Power to control exists when a party or parties have 50 percent or more ownership.  It may also exist with considerably less than 50 percent ownership by contractual arrangement or when one or more parties own a large share compared to other parties.  Affiliated business concerns need not be in the same line of business.  The calculation of a concern's size includes the employees or receipts of all affiliates.  

Annual Receipts – Receipts means “total income” (or in the case of a sole proprietorship, “gross income”) plus “cost of goods sold” as these terms are defined and reported on Internal Revenue Service tax return forms.  The term does not include net capital gains or losses; taxes collected for and remitted to a taxing authority if included in gross or total income, such as sales or other taxes collected from customers and excluding taxes levied on the concern or its employees; proceeds from transactions between a concern and its domestic or foreign affiliates; and amounts collected for another by a travel agent, real estate agent, advertising agent, conference management service provider, freight forwarder or customs broker.  For size determination purposes, the only exclusions from receipts are those specifically provided for in this paragraph.  All other items, such as subcontractor costs, reimbursements for purchases a contractor makes at a customer's request, and employee-based costs such as payroll taxes, may not be excluded from receipts.  Receipts are averaged over a concern's latest three (3) completed fiscal years to determine its average annual receipts.  If a concern has not been in business for three (3) years, the average weekly revenue for the number of weeks the concern has been in business is multiplied by 52 to determine its average annual receipts.

Business Concern – A business concern eligible for assistance as a small business is a business entity organized for profit, with a place of business located in the United States, and which operates primarily within the United States or makes a significant contribution to the US economy through payment of taxes or use of American products, materials, or labor.  A business concern can also be a small agricultural cooperative (See below ).

Central Contractor Registration – Central Contractor Registration (CCR) is the primary vendor database for the U.S. Federal Government.  CCR collects, validates, stores, and disseminates data in support of agency acquisition missions. 

Both current and potential federal government vendors are required to register in CCR in order to be awarded contracts by the federal government.  Vendors are required to complete a one-time registration to provide basic information relevant to procurement and financial transactions.  Vendors must update or renew their registration at least once per year to maintain an active status. 

Dynamic Small Business Search – A Federal Government database for small businesses to register and increase their opportunities to provide goods and services to the Federal Government.  It is part of the Central Contractor Registration (CCR) database.  A small business only needs to enter its business information in CCR, which will then automatically populate the Dynamic Small Business Search.  Concerns interested in receiving Small Disadvantaged Business, HUBZone, 8(a), or any other certification(s), must apply separately to SBA to complete that process.  It is important to note that both current and potential federal government vendors must register in CCR to be awarded contracts by the Federal Government.

Employees – The number of employees of a concern is its average number of persons employed for each pay period over the concern's latest 12 months.  Any person on the payroll must be included as one employee regardless of hours worked or temporary status. That is, it is a “head count.”  The number of employees of a concern in business under 12 months is based on the average for each pay period it has been in business. 

HUBZone – The HUBZone Empowerment Contracting Program, which is included in the Small Business Reauthorization Act of 1997, stimulates economic development and creates jobs in urban and rural communities by providing contracting preferences to small businesses that are located in a HUBZone and that hire employees who live in a HUBZone.  SBA is responsible for regulating and implementing the HUBZone Program.  It certifies concerns for eligibility to receive HUBZone contracts and maintains a listing of qualified HUBZone small businesses federal agencies can use to locate prospective vendors. 

Industry –  Concerns primarily engaged in the same kind of economic activity are classified in the same industry regardless of their types of ownership (such as sole proprietorship, partnership or corporation).  OMB classifies approximately 1,200 activities as industries under NAICS.  For each industry, except those in the Public Administration Sector, SBA has established a size standard.  Industries are described in detail in North American Industry Classification System – United States, 2007.  It can be found in many libraries or purchased from the National Technical Information Service, by calling (800) 553-6847 or (703) 605-6000. 

Nonmanufacturer – For Federal government contracts, a concern that supplies a product it did not manufacture is termed a nonmanufacturer.  To qualify for Federal government contracting, a nonmanufacturer must have 500 or fewer employees, be primarily in the wholesale or retail trade, and supply the product of a US small manufacturer, if the contract is set aside for a small business.  This requirement is called the "nonmanufacturer rule."  This rule does not apply to supply contracts of $25,000 or less that are processed under Simplified Acquisition Procedures.  The requirement may also be waived through formal procedure by the Associate Administrator for Government Contracting if there is no small manufacturer in the Federal market for a class of products.  The nonmanufacturer rule is more detailed in paragraph (b) of 13 CFR §121.406  

Not Dominant – A concern is not dominant in its field of operation when it does not exercise a controlling or major influence on an industry.  As part of its review of a size standard, SBA investigates if a concern at or below a particular standard would be dominant in the industry, on a national basis.  Thus, a concern at or below the size standard is presumed not to be dominant in its field of operation. 

Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business – A small business concern that is at least 51% unconditionally and directly owned by one or more service-disabled veterans may represent itself as a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Concern in the Central Contractor Registry at www.ccr.gov.  To participate in the Federal marketplace, the Veteran must have a service-connected disability that has been determined by the Department of Veterans Affairs or his or her respective military branch of service.  For more information, please go to www.sba.gov/GC and www.sba.gov/vets.

Set-aside Contract – A "set- aside" is a Federal contract designated for small business bidding only. 

Small Agricultural Cooperative– A small agricultural cooperative is an association (corporate or otherwise) acting pursuant to the provisions of the Agricultural Marketing Act (12 U.S.C.A. 1141j) whose size does not exceed the size standard established by SBA for other similar agricultural small business concerns.  A small agricultural cooperative's member shareholders are not considered to be affiliates of the cooperative by virtue of their membership in the cooperative.  However, a business concern or cooperative that does not qualify as small under part  121 of SBA's Small Business Size Regulations may not be a member of a small agricultural cooperative.

Small Disadvantaged Program (SDB) Program – While the 8(a) Business Development Program (above) offers a broad scope of assistance to socially and economically disadvantaged concerns, SDB certification strictly pertains to benefits in Federal procurement.  8(a) concerns automatically qualify for SDB certification.  SBA certifies SDBs to make them eligible for special bidding benefits.  Evaluation credits available to prime contractors boost subcontracting opportunities for SDBs. 

Woman owned small business – Women business owners are critically important to the American economy.