Want your small business to become 8a certified? Make sure the business you own is qualified for the 8a program. In this article, you can find the requirements of the SBA 8a certification.
Before proceeding with the requirements of the SBA 8a certifications,
you should first know what 8a certification is. It is basically a business development program for the small businesses. By participating in the program and obtaining the certification, a small firm can get an access to the federal contracting opportunities.
Now that you know what the certification is, here are the requirements of the 8a business development program.
The Firm Should Be Controlled and Owned by Economically and Socially Disadvantaged People.
In order to be 8a certified, a firm that’s applying must be controlled and owned by an economically and socially disadvantaged individual. But do you know who is economically and socially disadvantaged?
Economically disadvantaged
A person or a firm will only be considered economically disadvantaged when the company or the individual meets the following criteria:
• The individual’s personal net worth should not be more than $250,000.
• The person who is applying for the 8a certification needs to be the highest paid person at the firm.
• The current market value of all the assets of the firm cannot be more than $4,000,000.
• The average two year adjusted gross income cannot be more than $200,000.
The firm should be controlled and owned by economically and socially disadvantaged individuals. This means, the disadvantaged individual should at least have 51% share in the business in order to be an eligible candidate for the 8a certification program.
Socially disadvantaged
Usually an individual who is a member of any of the groups such as African American, Hispanic American and Asian Pacific Americans fits in the socially disadvantaged category. If an individual doesn’t belong to any of these presumed groups but has experienced a lot of sufferings while residing in America because of the discrimination based on culture, gender, ethnicity, and race, then also he/she will be considered socially disadvantaged.
The Firm Must Be Small As Per The Definition of The SBA
Secondly, the firm must be a small business. If you or other people consider your firm to be small, that won’t do! It should be ‘small’ as defined by the Small Business Administration. And for knowing how the SBA defines a small business, you should visit the SBA official website.
The Company Must Have 2 Years Of Experience in Business
The company must be able to show to the SBA that it has two years of experience in this industry. Sometimes, a newly launched company has also got approval from the SBA for the certification. The obvious question is how! These firms requested for a waiver to the agency.
The Applicant Must Have a Good Character
The applicant should have a good moral character. He/she shouldn’t have any records of felony or past records of arrest or detainments by the police.
Only if a person or a firm is able to meet all the above-mentioned requirements of the SBA, then only the small business will be able to obtain the 8a certification. Getting 8a certified is not that easy and the Small Business Administration is very strict when it reviews the applications. It is said that the agency rejects almost seven out of ten applications that are submitted. So, before applying for the certification, make sure you have all the documents necessary for the certification.
