8a Certification Process

What is 8a Certification?

8a Certification is the term used for socially or economically disadvantaged businesses who have gone through the application process with the General Services Administration (GSA) and been awarded a GSA schedule contract.  Once 8a Certified, the 8a Business is then able to take advantage of any number of contracts which the federal government has mandated can only be fulfilled by 8a businesses.  These mandated contracts are known as "Small Business Set Asides."  More specifically, "8a Small Business Set Asides."

What is an 8a Business?

8a Business

An 8a Business is traditionally a minority or woman owned business which has been certified by the General Services Administration (GSA) as meriting access to certain government contracts which have been "set-aside" by the Federal Government for such businesses.  The GSA uses the terms "Socially Disadvantaged" or "Economically Disadvantaged" when referring to the types of businesses which qualify for 8a business certification.  A brief discussion of what it means to be "Socially Disadvantaged" or "Economically Disadvantaged" is below.

GSA: What Is An 8(a) Contractor?

The U.S. General Services Administration, or GSA, is the arm of the federal government that helps federal agencies find and contract with private companies like yours.

The way it works is you get your business registered with the GSA and then the GSA adds your business information to a google-type searchable website that federal agencies use to find suppliers.

Federal agencies are constantly searching this website looking for small businesses that can supply what the agency is looking for. You can also use the website to find potential federal agency customers and market to those customers. But you have to be registered with the GSA first.

8(a) Contractors
One of the GSA's goals is to help small businesses like yours sell to the federal government by leveling the playing field against your larger competitors.

The GSA accomplishes this goal by setting aside a number of federal projects and purchases (called procurements) that can only be performed by what are called "8(a) Contractors." An 8(a) Contractor is a business that is either minority or woman owned (usually at least 51% ownership).

These set asides require all federal agencies to contract with a certain number of 8(a) Contractors each year. The term 8(a) refers to Section 8(a) of the Federal Small Business Act related to assisting minority and woman owned businesses in obtaining federal procurements.

To take advantage of the 8(a) Contractor program, a small business must be registered with the Small Business Administration, as well as the GSA.

This process can be lengthy and difficult if you are not familiar with it and you will likely need assistance with the process.

There is a great deal of paperwork required to obtain 8(a) status, but the reward can be that your business is placed in a relatively small pool of businesses entitled to federal GSA procurement set-asides. An 8(a) Contractor who can meet a procurement need is like gold to a federal contracting agent.

What is the GSA?

In layman's terms, the General Services Administration (or GSA for short) is the federal government's newly created centralized purchasing department.

The GSA was created to (1) save the federal government money by setting up a one stop shop for government agencies to purchase your company's goods and services; and (2) speed up the contracting process between the government and your company.

A Little Background
As you may know, for most of our nation's history the federal government's different agencies have been responsible for their own purchasing policies and programs. This meant that each agency had to track down the product it wanted to purchase, negotiate terms for each purchase and pay for the purchase through a complex system of individual vendor background checks and approvals.

The process was time consuming and difficult. When a vendor was finally approved, the vendor ended up with a monopoly (for that agency anyway) because purchasing agents didn't want to go back through the approval process again with a different vendor.

In addition, the process also meant that different agencies paid different prices for the same products. Some agencies purchased in larger volumes and were offered lower prices per unit while other agencies purchased smaller volumes and paid much more per unit.

You may recall the public outcry back in the early 90s when it was discovered the military paid several hundred dollars for a hammer it could have bought at Lowe's for $10.99. The GSA is intended to remedy that type of spending and open up the purchasing process to more vendors.

GSA Has Simplified The Purchasing Process
Today, almost all government agencies use the GSA to purchase goods and services. The GSA has created a centralized website for government agencies to shop for the products and services you sell.

The website is easy for agencies to use and contains almost every product on the market today, including the products your company sells. With that in mind, why is your company not on the website? Why are other companies that sell your same products and services getting all of the government's business?

The questions are only partially rhetorical. The real answer to the above questions is that the difficulty for selling to the government has been shifted to your company and away from government agencies. Now your company is responsible for registering your products to be included in the catalog. This process can be full of legal traps and difficulties.

You may want to consult with an experienced GSA contracting specialist for help with completing the GSA registration process.