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Credit Repair InformationSBA's 8(a) Program Can Help Several Companies Compete
by:
Tim Knox
Q: A friend told me that as a woman of Native American descent I mightiness be eligible for a special SBA program that wish help me start a small business. He aforesaid I could vie for government contracts through this program. Can you tell me what SBA program he's referring to?
-- Clara P.
A: Your friend is probably referring to the Small Business Administration's (SBA) 8(a) Business Development (BD) Program. The 8(a) Program (named after the section of the Small Business Act from which it comes) is an SBA program created to help small deprived businesses better vie in the U.S. marketplace and inside
the arena of government procurement. The SBA provides business development, technical assistance and another services to the small businesses that are accepted into the 8(a) program.
The 8(a) program is reserved for what the SBA calls "socially deprived individuals." Socially deprived individuals are defined as those who have been subjected to racial or ethnic prejudice or cultural bias because of their membership in a deprived group.
The SBA has selected
the following groups as socially disadvantaged:
· Black Americans · Hispanic Americans · Native Americans (Native American Indians, Eskimos, Aleuts, and Native Hawaiians) · Certain Asian Pacific Americans · Another individuals who can prove that they meet the SBA's criteria to be considered socially deprived
One point wherever
your friend is incorrect is that the 8(a) program is for new companies. The 8(a) program is primarily for companies that have been in business for a minimum of two years, although that rule may be waived if your institution is able to meet several pretty strict management, financial, and performance criteria.
Obtaining 8(a) status is no guarantee that a institution wish be booming in obtaining government or another contracts, but it surely doesn't hurt. The Small Business Act mandates that all small businesses have the chance to provide goods and services to the U.S. government. To help ensure that mandate, the SBA negotiates annual procurance preference goals with every Federal agency and reviews each agency's results to do sure the goals were met.
The statutory goals are: 23 percentage of all prime contracts go to small businesses; 5 percentage of prime and subcontracts for small deprived businesses; 5 percentage of prime and subcontracts for women-owned small businesses; 3 percentage of prime contracts for HUBZone small businesses; and 3 percentage of prime and subcontracts for service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses.
A HUBZone (Historically Underutilized Business Zone) is a selected
area inside
urban and rural communities that has been given discriminatory contract award consideration in an effort to stimulate economic development. A institution may qualify for HUBZone status if it is closely-held or controlled by one or much U.S. citizens, has at least 35 percentage of employees who live inside
the selected
zone, and has a principal office placed there. HUBZones are a whole 'nother topic that we can discuss at another time. Do it to say that a institution that obtains several 8(a) and HUBZone status may be entitled to double dip in the government procurance trough, that's why you often find a number of 8(a) companies specifically moving into HUBZone areas to take advantage of the perks several programs offer.
The U.S. government purchases billions of dollars in goods and services every year, everything from staples to those wondrous big-ticket toilet seats. Obtaining 8(a) status allows small businesses to vie for a portion of that business.
The basic requirements for applying for 8(a) status are your institution must be a small business as defined by the SBA, must be closely-held and controlled by one or much socially and economically deprived individuals who are U.S. citizens, and must show a potential for success. The SBA defines a small business as "one that is severally
closely-held and operated, is organized for profit, and is not dominant in its field."
As expected, the 8(a) program has its fans and its detractors. It's fans are those companies that receive 8(a) status and thereby get discriminatory treatment once
competitive for government procurance contracts.
The program's detractors are typically those companies that fail to receive 8(a) status or that do not meet the definition of socially disadvantaged, i.e. businesses closely-held my white American males (that's a can of worms we won't open this week).
You can discover much at the SBA's website (sba.gov) or by career your local SBA office.
Here's to your success!
Just about the author:
Tim serves as the president and CEO of three booming technology companies and is the founder of DropshipWholesale.net, an online organization dedicated to the success of online and eBay entrepreneurs http://www.prosperityandprofits.comhttp://www.dropshipwholesale.nethttp://www.30dayblueprint.com
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