How the Recent Changes in WOSB Certification Will Impact the Women Owned Business

Though women  owned small  businesses  are gaining ground  in  the  federal  business premise, cut-throat competition  lies  ahead always.  Acquiring corporate as well as government clients is not as easy as they sound. For a woman, it’s even tougher.  However, the WOSB Certification is offering them a way to cut through the competition.  Getting certified as the woman-owned business can open up avenues for the growth.  The certification itself makes your business more visible to potential clients, increases you’re networking opportunities and can expose you to new possibilities.

Lately,  Small Business Administration (SBA) has proposed to amend its WOSB certification process keeping the women’s interest in mind . New regulations are going to be released this summer.

So, what’s new in the latest certification process? Let’s find out.

Types of woman-owned Business Certifications

There are two different types of women-owned business certifications. Depending on the mode of your business, the certificate is issued.  The Women’s Business Enterprise Certification helps them to do business with private sector, nonprofits, state governments or local governments. However, if you are interested to solely deal with the federal government, Women-Owned Small Business or WOSB certification or Economically Disadvantaged Women-Owned Small Business (EDWOSB) certifications are all what you need.

To be eligible for the women’s contracting program, your business must qualify the following criteria:

  • Small business  entity 
  • At least 51% stake should belong to the women  who are  U.S. citizen 
  • Operations and  decision  making  should  be managed by women  mainly    

However, to qualify as an economically disadvantaged woman running her business, you need to qualify the following norms.

  • Meet the  requirements of woman’s  contracting program 
  • Be owned  and  run by  one or more women with $6 million or less in personal assets

You can check out the requirements of the WOSB certification in the Title 13 Part 127 Subpart B of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). The criteria of assessment are furnished under SBA’s Certify website.

The Recent Changes in the WOSB Certification Program

Since June 30, 2020 several  changes are being  made in  the GSA  Schedule  each  of which  should  be taken  into consideration, when  you are looking for WOSB Certification. As per the Office of Advocacy, the proposed rule would:

  • Provide that SBA will make available a free of cost electronic application process for every firm seeking to be certified as WOSBs or EDWOSBs. This will ensure speed, efficiency, and automate administrative burden, that was otherwise involved in the manual process. 

  • Permit involvement from an extended list of federal and state entities with existing certification programs and confirm their participation for the future programs. 

  • Bring verified third-party certifiers to inform applicants of their fees and the option to use SBA’s free online certification process. 

  • Completely remove the self-certification option for SBA 8(m) program participants. 

  • Adopt a $750,000 net worth standard as eligibility for both the 8(m) EDWOSB Program and the 8(a) Business Development Program.

The abolition of the self-certification is indeed a revolutionary change on the part of the federal government.  According to the new normal, businesses now need to qualify the quality standards laid by a verified and approved third-party entity. This way, it’s easier for the government to understand the real worth of   a business.

The Takeaway

According to the federal  law,  the  government agencies need to meet goals for giving a certain percentage of their contracts to WOSBs or EDWOSBs.  Mostly  in  those industries  where  women  were underrepresented, federal agencies are putting those as set asides for entities holding WOSB  certification. 

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