Federal Contracts Set Aside for Women Owned Businesses
The Federal Government has provided special assistance to Women Owned Small Businesses (WOSB) who want to provide goods or services to Government Agencies. This assistance has come, in part, by instructing Federal contracting officers (i.e. people who purchase goods and services for the Federal government) to specifically limit certain Federal contracts to women-owned small businesses. These limits are known as Women-Owned Small Business "Set Asides." Contracts which are designated by contracting officers as Women-Owned Small Business Set Asides may not be fulfilled by other small or large businesses unless a qualified WOSB cannot be found.
Federal agencies have certain goals they must achieve in finding and assisting WOSB's in obtaining federal contracts. Most agencies use a federal database known as GSA Advantage to find them. In order for a WOSB to appear on the federal database, the WOSB must first be certified through the GSA. Read my post on the GSA Certification process for a better idea of how the process works.
Women Owned Small Business Eligibility Requirements
To be certified as a Women Owned Small Business, a company must be:
- at least 51% owned and controlled by one or more women (U.S. citizens) and
- primarily managed by one or more women.
- “small” in its primary industry in accordance with SBA’s size standards for that industry.
A WOSB may also be determined economically disadvantaged if its owners can demonstrate certain factors set forth by the GSA which amount to an economic disadvantage. A determination of economic disadvantage would merit 8a classification.