Small Business Program

Small Business

A small business concern is a firm that is independently owned and operated, not dominant in the field of operation in which it is bidding, and qualified as a small business under certain criteria and size standards.

Eligibility Criteria

Must not exercise a controlling or major influence on a national basis in a kind of business activity in which a number of business concerns are primarily engaged.
Must be small under North American Industrial Classification Standards for a specific industry
Consideration is given to volume of business, number of employees, financial resources, competitive status or position, ownership and control of materials, processes, patents, license agreements, facilities, sales territory and nature of business activity.

References

Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 19
Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 2.101
Small Business Administration Small Business Size Standards (matched to NAICS codes)

Small Disadvantaged Businesses & 8(a)

A small disadvantaged business (SDB) is a small firm owned by one or more individuals who are socially and economically disadvantaged. SDB status provides eligibility for bidding and benefit programs for CPSC and Federal procurements.

8(a) Program for Business Development

The SBA 8(a) Program provides SDBs with a wide variety of business development support and other management and technical assistance, including contracting with the CPSC in sole source and competitive set-asides. Learn more.

Eligibility Criteria

Small firms qualify as SDBs if they are at least 51 percent owned by one or more individuals who are socially and economically disadvantaged individuals who are citizens of the United States. For exceptions, see below.
A publicly owned business may be considered an SDB if:
- at least 51 percent of its stock is unconditionally owned by one or more disadvantaged individuals; and
- the public company's management and daily business is controlled by one or more such individuals.
Socially disadvantaged groups are those who have been, historically, subjected to "racial or ethnic prejudice or cultural bias" within the larger American culture, including:
- African Americans
- Asian Pacific Americans
- Hispanic Americans
- Native Americans
- Subcontinent Asian Americans
- Members of other groups may qualify if they can satisfactorily demonstrate they meet established criteria

Economically disadvantaged individuals have been hampered in their ability to compete in the free enterprise system due to impaired access to financial opportunities, in contrast to people in similar businesses who are not identified as socially disadvantaged. The net worth of each individual does not exceed $750,000 subject to certain exemptions.

SBA changed the certification procedures for SDBs, where offerors can self-certify as long as the agency continues to meet its SDB goals.

References

Small Business Administration SDB Program information
Small Business Administration 8(a) Program information

Veteran-Owned & Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Programs

The CPSC Office of Minority Enterprise recognizes that U.S. military veterans have provided invaluable service to the nation in times of peace and war. We recognize that the CPSC can lead the fight for our veterans by recognizing the wealth of knowledge, innovation and agility they offer as they leave active service and open their businesses. They have the "hands-on" experience in every field activity in the CPSC, so it’s important that we capture their capabilities in our CPSC acquisitions. Also, they are likely to hire, mentor and train other war veterans as they transition to private life. In recognition of this fact, contracting and procurement assistance is provided to small business concerns owned by veterans and service-disabled veterans.

Federal regulations require those businesses that are other than small to submit subcontracting plans that include goals for awards to Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) concerns.
The federal Veterans Benefits Act of 2003 created the SDVOSB Program.
Executive Order 13360 was issued to ensure SDVOSBs receive at least 3 percent of all Federal acquisitions.

Eligibility Criteria

To qualify as a VOSB, a business must:

Be classified as small business concern (by the Small Business Administration standards)
Be 51 percent owned by one or more veterans
Have management and daily business operations controlled by one or more veterans or service-disabled veterans (or the spouse/permanent caregiver of a permanently and severely disabled veteran)

To qualify as a SDVOSB, a business must:

Be classified as small business concern (by the Small Business Administration standards)
Be 51 percent owned by one or more service-disabled veterans
Have management and daily business operations controlled by one or more service-disabled veterans (or the spouse/permanent caregiver of a permanently and severely disabled veteran)

The terms veteran and service-disabled veteran are defined in the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), Subpart 2.101.

References

Federal Acquisition Regulation, Part 19.14
Department of Veterans Affairs, Center for Veterans Enterprise
Small Business Administration, Office of Veterans Business Development

Women-Owned Small Business Program

The CPSC Office of Minority Enterprise is committed to providing the most effective and innovative methods of assistance to meet the needs of Women-Owned Small Businesses (WOSBs) that wishes to do business with the CPSC.

Eligibility Criteria

A women-owned small business is defined by Federal Acquisition Regulations Part 2.101 as a small firm:

that is at least 51 percent owned by one or more women; or
where at least 51 percent of stock is owned by one or more women in the case of a publicly owned business; and
whose management and daily business operations are controlled by one or more women.

References

Small Business Administration, Office of Women’s Business Ownership

CPSC Opportunities

In order to be eligible to do business with the Federal Government, a company must first be registered at Central Contractor Registration (CCR). If you have not already done so, please register with the Central Contractor Registration (CCR) at http://www.ccr.gov, which is also the registration site for the Small Business Administration's (SBA) PRO-Net database. As a small business owner, you may also want to contact the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) for other relevant information. Please see the SBA's Government contracting website. Until or unless your company is registered, our Agency is not authorized to contract with your company for services.

Although the electronic bidder's mailing lists have been officially retired by Government agencies, CPSC does retain company information in the event of internal inquiries about various sources of supplies and services. Please feel free to forward information on company capabilities, current Government contracts, information on your business size, 8(a) status, and a copy of your Federal Supply Schedule contract, if any, to the Division of Procurement Services, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Washington, D.C. 20207-0001. You may speak directly to Ms. Donna Hutton, Director of Procurement, by telephoning (301) 504-7009.

CPSC and other agencies post competitive solicitations on FedBizOpps at the web site at https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=list&tab=list FedBizOpps.gov is the single government point-of-entry (GPE) for Federal government procurement opportunities over $25,000. Through this one portal commercial vendors seeking Federal markets for their products and services can search, monitor and retrieve opportunities solicited by the entire Federal contracting community.

CPSC will analyze our needs and may take a short meeting with small businesses to discuss capabilities that may meet our upcoming technology requirements. Contact Kathy Buttrey, kbuttrey@cpsc.gov, for additional information.

Potential Contract Award Areas: The majority of our purchases is in information technology supplies and services, scientific equipment, laboratory testing, technical and support services.