Overview:
The Small Business Act (Pub. L. 85–536, as amended October 7, 2010), effective February 4, 2011, implemented procedures to help ensure a level playing field on which Women-Owned Small Businesses (WOSB) can compete for Federal contracting opportunities. The WOSB Program is a program that authorizes contracting officers to restrict certain requirements for competition solely amongst WOSBs or economically disadvantaged women-owned small businesses (EDWOSBs).
The Department of Navy (DON) target award is 3% of its prime contracting dollars to WOSB's. The DON Office of Small Business Programs (OSBP) is committed to providing assistance to Women-Owned Small Businesses (WOSBs) in doing business with the Navy.
Eligibility Criteria:
To be eligible for the WOSB program, a business must:
- Be a small business concern (SBC) that is at least 51% unconditionally and directly owned and controlled by one or more women who are United States citizens.
- Have a woman manage the day-to-day operations, make long-term decisions for the business, hold the highest officer position in the business and work at the business full-time during normal working hours.
To be eligible for the EDWOSB program, a business must:
- Be a WOSB that is at least 51% unconditionally and directly owned by one or more women who are "economically disadvantaged".
- Have an economically disadvantaged woman manage the day-to-day operations, make long-term decisions for the business, hold the highest officer position in the business and work at the business full-time during normal working hours. A woman is presumed economically disadvantaged if she has a personal net worth of less than $750,000 (with some exclusions), her adjusted gross yearly income averaged over the three years preceding the certification less than $350,000, and the fair market value of all her assets is less than $6 million.
Certification:
To participate in the Program, a WOSB or EDWOSB must meet the eligibility requirements and either:
- self-certify their business OR
- be certified by an SBA-approved Third-Party Certifier
All WOSBs and EDWOSBs must register their status in the System for Award Management (SAM), as well as upload required documents to the WOSB Program Repository.
Third-Party Certification:
A third party certifier is a national certifying entity approved by the Administrator that may engage in the certification process for the WOSB Program. At this time, no third party certifiers have been approved by the SBA. The SBA is currently in the process of reviewing applications for third party certifiers and will post the names of the approved third party certifiers on www.sba.gov/wosb.
SBA will accept certifications by SBA of 8(a) Business Development (BD) Participants as long as the 8(a) BD Participant is 51% owned and controlled by one or more women and the business is currently in the BD program. However, a certified 8(a) BD Participant still needs to submit their 8(a) certification and WOSB certification to the WOSB Program Repository.
Resources:
Contact:
DON Office of Small Business: WOSBinfo@navy.mil