The WOSB certification is a program composed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) with the objective of giving ladies possessed organizations simpler admittance to the asset they have to develop their business. The Economically Disadvantaged Woman-Owned Small Business (EDWOSB) accreditation is a subset of the WOSB program. These accreditations offer the opportunity to contend decently for government agreements and access assets custom-fitted to advancing ladies in the business.
To be eligible for the women’s contracting program with WOSB certification, a business must:
- Be a small business
- Be at least 51 percent owned and controlled by women who are U.S. citizens
- Have women manage day-to-day operations and also make long-term decisions
- To qualify as an economically disadvantaged business within the women’s contracting program, a business must:
- Meet all the requirements of the women’s contracting program
- Be owned and controlled by one or more women, each with a personal net worth less than $750,000
- Be owned and controlled by one or more women, each with $350,000 or less in adjusted gross income averaged over the previous three years
- Be owned and controlled by one or more women, each $6 million or less in personal assets
Personal net worth standards for economically disadvantaged individuals have been aligned between the 8(a) Business Development Program and the WOSB Federal Contracting Program. EDWOSBs and 8(a) Business Development Program participants have the same personal net worth threshold, and funds invested in an official retirement account are excluded from the assessment of an economically disadvantaged individual’s personal net worth in both programs.
SBA continues to accept a current, valid 8(a) certification. Firms must provide their most recent annual review letter or acceptance letter if in their first year through beta.certify.sba.gov.
SBA also allows participation from firms certified by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Center for Verification and Evaluations (CVE), provided they meet all eligibility requirements. Firms must provide their CVE certificate and support documentation through beta.certify.sba.gov.
The eligibility requirements to qualify as a WOSB or an EDWOSB are fully defined in Title 13 Part 127 Subpart B of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). Firms can also get a preliminary assessment of whether they qualify at SBA’s beta.certify.sba.gov website. [Source: https://www.sba.gov/]
Advantages of WOSB certification
More than 20 years back, the national government set an objective for granting 5 percent of government agreements to independent companies possessed by ladies. That objective of WOSB certification has been subtle, however was at last met in 2015 when 5.05 percent, or $17.8 billion, of all government contracting dollars that were qualified for private ventures were granted to WOSBs.
Notwithstanding the contracting objective, government agreements can be “put in a safe spot” for WOSBs in enterprises where WOSBs are underrepresented. This guarantees that private ventures claimed by ladies are contending on a more level battleground with other comparative organizations.
The government utilizes the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) to characterize organizations. Truth be told, the SBA has approved 113 new NAICS Industry bunches for WOSB and EDWOSB set asides, 92 NAICS bunches have set-asides for WOSBs and 21 for EDWOSBs.
WOSB certification empowers you to develop your business through agreements with enormous organizations, schools and colleges, and some administration substances; it can also give an occasion to an accomplice or potentially direct business with other guaranteed ladies claimed organizations.
