How Your Small Business Can Make an Impact in the Federal Acquisition Process
The federal government is required to spend 23% of their spending with small businesses, including 5% with women-owned firms, 5% with disadvantaged businesses, 3% with service disabled veteran-owned businesses and 3% with businesses residing in a Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone). As a result, certifications are very important for business owners to explore and obtain although they do not guarantee a contract. Rather, a certification, when used effectively, can impact the federal acquisition process, enabling a small business to compete for a contract that might have been out of reach. If you are a newcomer to government contracting, you may know a little bit about certifications and a term called set asides. A small business set-aside means that the government has determined that a number of protected categories deserve to compete in a limited pool of competitors of the same size. At this time there are set-asides in the category of HUBzone, woman-owned, 8(a) for mi...