The Small Business Association (SBA) has recently proposed increasing federal contracts for women-owned businesses. Antonio Doss, district director for the Washington Metropolitan Area District Office, U.S. Small Business Administration, sat down with Black Enterprise to share some more information about it.
[RELATED: SBA and ChallengeHER Partner for Women-Owned Small Businesses]
BlackEnterprise.com: Can you please explain the SBA’s current proposal?
Doss: As of now, the SBA has proposed that Women-Owned small businesses be given additional contracting authority to enable their growth in the $400 billion federal contracting marketplace. The Sole-Source provision will be implemented enabling eligible Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) and Economically Disadvantaged WOSB (EDWOSB) firms an opportunity to receive sole-source awards from a federal agency. The SBA’s added authority for WOSBs is a result of the passage of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) 2015, which additionally provides for the sole-source authority and the establishment of a certification system. While the SBA continues its review of the certification legislation, the current policy of self-certification and the use of SBA authorized third-party certifiers will remain in place. Changes to the certification process will be communicated through proposed rules, which will be posted online at Regulations.gov for public review and comment.
How will it assist women-owned businesses?
The sole-source authority enables a federal agency contracting officer to award a contract to an eligible WOSB or EDWOSB on a sole-source basis under certain circumstances. Among the factors that determine if an award can be made on a sole-source basis are the value of contract in relation to the threshold amount, which is $6.5 million or less for manufacturing or $4 million or less for all other contracts, and if there is only one WOSB or EDWOSB capable of performing the contract. This authority is similar to the existing sole-source authority for the Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) and Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSB) programs.
How difficult is the certification process?
The self-certification process is not difficult at all. Eligible firms should follow the guidelines found at www.sba/gov/wosb to begin the process. Here, a WOSB or EDWOSB
Do you have local initiatives that support women-owned businesses?
The Washington Metropolitan Area District Office has an uncompromising approach toward inclusive entrepreneurialism. For us, this means assisting all segments of the entrepreneurial community to be able to start, grow, and sustain successful businesses. Women-owned small businesses are a key area of focus for us.
The SBA provides funding to three local Women’s Business Centers (WBC) in the metropolitan Washington Area. With locations in Springfield, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and Rockville, Maryland, each WBC provides a wide range of training workshops and in-depth entrepreneurial coaching to women business owners. The Maryland Women’s Business Center co-hosted its annual Power Conference on Thursday, Sept. 3 at the Montgomery County Conference Center/North Bethesda Marriott. More than 40 business education workshops were held along with a trade show, and the announcement of the annual StartRight! Business Plan Competition winners.
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Nationally, the SBA is assisting women business owners through the ChallengeHER initiative. The SBA is continuing its partnership with Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP) and American Express Open on the ChallengeHER initiative, which was launched in the spring of 2014, to help more women-owned businesses get a bigger piece of the federal contracting pie and benefit from the SBA’s Woman-Owned Small Business Federal Contracting Program.
ChallengeHER helps women business owners better understand and navigate the numerous procurement opportunities available from the federal government. At ChallengeHER events, training is also provided on how to register in the System for Award Management, which serves as the government contracting portal for all small business owners that want to do business with the federal government.
The remaining ChallengeHER events for 2015 are in:
* Pittsburgh, Pa. – Sep 22
* Santa Ana, Calif. – Oct 8
* Cincinnati, Ohio – Oct 16
* Central New Jersey – Nov 4
* Baltimore, Md. – Nov 5
Other event locations are being considered. Visit the ChallengeHER website at www.wipp.org/?ChallengeHER for the most current information.
How can existing women business owners get assistance from the SBA in the certification process?
Any firms that have questions during the self-certification process and are unable to find their answer under the website guidelines should e-mail the SBA at wosb@sba.gov. Firms that are seeking third-party certifications will receive guidance directly from those resources.
Nicole Cober, Esq. is the Managing Partner at Cober Johnson & Romney, a law firm focusing on trademarks, brand licensing and small business consulting. She is a former small biz owner of the award winning chain, Soul…Day Spa and Salon. She is also a Legal Consultant for Washington DC’s NewsChannel 8 and author of soon-to-be released book: “CEO of My Soul: The Dos and Don’ts of Small Bizâ€. Follow her on Twitter @niccober and like her on Facebook @facebook.com/CoberJohnson. Visit her website at www.cjrlegal.com.