Now that you’re seriously considering pursuing government contracting, let’s get your certifications

In the last blog, we looked at all of the certifications. Today, let’s look at how to get them. The federal ones are relatively easy. For the overall Small Business certification, it is simply a declaration in the SAM registration, which can be accessed through this link here. This is a self-certifying certification and requires no documentation. Be sure you are under the revenue threshold for your primary NAICS Code which you can obtain them here if you don’t have your NAICS Codes. The revenue thresholds are quite significant if you are thinking in terms of small business. For example, the construction small business revenue threshold is $36.5 million averaged over a three year period.

If you are pursuing a EDWOSB or WOSB (Economically Disadvantaged Woman Owned Business and Woman Owned Small Business), see the SBA website to begin that process here. The website is very thorough and a simple upload of the requested documents allows you to self-certify your business. There are 38 WOSB NAICS Codes allowed in the WOSB program. If you are not one of these NAICS Codes, you may want to consider adding one of them if it is close to the core competency that your business specializes in or even offers. If ou are in one of these 38 NAICS Codes, you can participate and request the Federal Government set that requirement aside under the newly authorized WOSB program.

The Service Disabled Veteran Owned Business is obtained by going through the Center for Veterans Enterprise (CVE), an agency of the Department of Veterans Affairs. To find out more about applying for this certification, which allows the VA to contract with your company in a set aside environment, click here. You must have a disability rating of 0% or greater for SDVOSB and without a rating, you may apply for VOSB (Veteran Owned Small Business), which is currently only recognized by the VA.

For the 8(a) certification, you must go through the SBA again. This is a very difficult certification in terms of the amount of the paperwork and you must prove economic hardship or disadvantage in order to receive it. For further instructions and for the eligibility requirements, click here.

For the Small Business certification, this is handled in a number of different ways. Many states, cities, counties, and agencies have their own SBE certification. If you are in California, you can go here to get yours and to obtain more information, or actually begin the process. This software is brand new for California and now contains all of the State bids, and sourcing documents, as well as many other features. If you do business in the State, I would highly encourage you to familiarize yourself with this site.

In the next blog, we will look at the WBE, DBE, MBE, and DVBE in greater detail.