Opportunities and Assistance for Women and Minority Owned Businesses

Overview

The federal government has statutory contracting goals to award 5 percent of federal prime contracts to women-owned small businesses and 5 percent to small disadvantaged businesses (SDB). There are also monetary and evaluation incentives for large prime contractors to award subcontracts to small businesses in these groups.

In addition to the assistance programs for SDBs and women-owned businesses described in this section, certain federal agencies have bidding preferences up to 10 percent for SDBs in certain industries where the U.S. Department of Commerce has determined that the underrepresentation of SDBs is due to past discrimination. Visit the SBA's SDB website at http://www.sba.gov/sdb/index.html for more information about these preferences.

For the purposes of procurement, an SDB is defined as a small business that is at least 51% owned and controlled by a socially and economically disadvantaged individual or individuals. African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Pacific Americans, Subcontinent Asian Americans, and Native Americans are presumed to qualify. Other individuals can qualify if they show by a "preponderance of the evidence" that they are disadvantaged. All individuals must have a net worth of less than $750,000, excluding the equity of the business and primary residence.

Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU)

Every federal agency with significant procurement activity has an OSDBU. OSDBUs are responsible for ensuring that an equitable share of the total prime contracts and subcontracts awarded by its agency are awarded to small businesses, small disadvantaged businesses, and women-owned businesses. Although most contracts are awarded on an unrestricted basis, some contracts (including those under $100,000) are reserved for small businesses.

The primary activities of OSDBUs are geared toward establishing and meeting small business contracting goals. There are, however, specific resources many OSBDUs provide that are invaluable to small businesses:

  • Forecast of contracting opportunities - an annual report of planned procurements by the agency, which small businesses can use to identify specific opportunities.
  • A list of prime contractors used by the agency to help small businesses identify subcontracting opportunities.
  • Contracting outreach programs, such as specialized training and vendor fairs for small businesses, including women-owned businesses and SDBs.

Small Business Development Centers (SBDC)

The SBDC network delivers training and counseling to small businesses on a variety of topics through over 1,000 sites nationwide. Many SBDCs have special procurement programs that are of special interest to women- and minority-owned firms. For more information about SBDCs, click here.

Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA)

MBDA provides funding for a network of Minority Business Development Centers (MBDC), Native American Business Development Centers (NABDC), and Business Resource Centers (BRC), which provide minority entrepreneurs with one-on-one assistance in writing business plans, marketing, management and technical assistance and financial planning to assure adequate financing for business ventures. For more information about MBDA, visit http://www.mbda.gov.

Procurement Technical Assistance Centers (PTAC)

The Department of Defense through the Defense Logistics Agency awards grants to various organizations throughout the country to assist businesses wanting to do business with federal, state and local governments. Assistance is available on a variety of procurement topics, including preparation and submission of applications, certifications, and registrations for women and minority-owned businesses. Click here for more information about PTACs or visit http://www.aptac-us.org for the PTAC nearest you.

SBA 8(a) Business Development Program

The 8(a) program directs federal procurement dollars to small disadvantaged businesses certified in the 8(a) program. For more information on this program, click here.

Contract Assistance for Women Business Owners (CAWBO)

CAWBO is a new SBA program designed to increase federal contracting opportunities for women-owned small business (WOSB) and to increase the number of WOSBs that successfully compete in the federal marketplace. CAWBO provides extensive information, tips and resources to WOSBs via a website, http://www.womenbiz.gov/, developed in cooperation with the National Women's Business Council and other federal agencies. Visit http://www.sba.gov/GC/indexprograms-cawbo.html for more information on CAWBO.

Women's Business Centers

The Women's Business Center program is administered by the SBA's Office of Women's Business Ownership. Through a network of over 80 centers, Women's Business Centers provide long-term training, mentoring and counseling on a variety of topics, including federal contracting. For more information, visit the Online Women's Business Center at http://www.onlinewbc.gov/.

Women's and Minority Business Associations

Several national business associations representing women-owned businesses and minority-owned businesses take an active role in advocating government and private-sector procurement opportunities for their members. They accomplish this objective in a variety of ways:

  • Advocating for policies within the government and corporate America that lead to greater contracting opportunities for their members.
  • Publishing specific contract opportunities for their members at their websites or in newsletters.
  • Maintaining a database of members and their capabilities that government and corporate buyers can use to find qualified women-owned or minority-owned suppliers.
  • Entering Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) with major buyers to establish diversity contracting goals.
  • Sponsoring procurement events where their members can meet and network with government and corporate procurement representatives.

Several associations that are particularly active include:

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