ABA New Rules for Certification
Did you know that the Small Business Administration (SBA) has proposed new rules to eliminate the self-certification process for the Women Owned Small Business certification program? This proposal has been made to address compliance issues associated with the self-certification process in awarding contracts to WOSBs and EDWOSBs. Under the new proposed regulations, the burden of eligibility and compliance will be on either the SBA, a federal agency or an SBA approved third party national certifying entity.
Currently, as a Women Owned Small Business, you have the option to self-certify your business once you complete the System for Award (SAM) registration process on sam.gov. To self-certify, you set up an online account at certify.sba.gov, upload the required documentation and complete the online questions. The portal allows you to certify as a Women Owned Small Business (WOSB) and as an Economically Disadvantaged Business (EDWOSB). Upon completion of the online registration process, the system automatically generates a confirmation letter verifying your certification.
Below is a quick summary of some of the proposed changes:
- After these rules are finalized, WOSBs that are not certified will not be eligible to compete on set asides.
- Small businesses will be certified by a federal agency, a state government or a national certifying agency in order to be awarded a set aside or sole source contract under the WOSB program.
- SBA will accept certifications that have been issued by SBA, a federal agency or state authority under the DOT/DBE program.
- All applications will be required to be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) at sam.gov/SAM/ to qualify for WOSB, EDWOSB certifications.
- The SBA will continue to provide an online electronic application process.
- Once you complete the application process you can no longer receive automatic approval, you must wait for your application to be approved and verified.
- After submitting your online application, there will be a waiting period for approval. If you submit an incomplete application the waiting period could take up to 90 days.
- SBA will apply the same economic disadvantage criteria for the 8(a) as for the EDWOSB program
An important detail to note is that the SBA will also utilize existing government certification from the Federal and State levels that have valid certification programs in lieu of an SBA only process. An example of an acceptable certification program from a federal agency is the Department of Transportation/Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DOT/DBE) program.
The SBA intends to minimize the impact of new legislation by accepting certifications already received through the Department of Transportation (DOT)’s Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) program or the Veterans Affairs (VA) Center for Veterans Enterprise (CVE) program. Businesses that are already certified by a third party will be allowed a one-year grace period for certification. Stay tuned for the dates the regulations will be implemented.
This article serves just as a review and summary. For a more detailed description of the proposed changes and regulations visit the federal register by clicking on this link SBA Announcement The public is invited to make comments on this proposed legislation until July 15, 2019.
Antionette Ball is the Chief Executive Officer for the Women’s Entrepreneurial Opportunity Project, Inc. (WEOP). Antionette is the lead Instructor for the Business Contract Professional (BCP). BCP is a proprietary training program of (WEOP) teaching entrepreneurs on the strategies and research methodologies to secure contracts in the federal and private sectors. Antionette’s book “Winning Federal Contracts” is published on Amazon. For additional information visit www.weop.org.
