Ez8a can certify your business as a Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB) with the federal government so you can qualify for bids requiring SDB status. The SDB certification is not for any business you must be a small business by the size standards of the SBA and you must be able to represent, in good faith, that your firm is controlled and owned by one or more socially and economically disadvantaged individuals.

To see if you company is a small business you must first know your North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code which you can look up at NAICS Code. Once you know your code you can find your SDB revenue cap by downloading the PDF file and looking up your NAICS code. If you need help determining the correct code just call us and we can help.

To know if your company is owned and controlled by economically and socially disadvantaged people is generally as easy as knowing the owner is worth less than a million dollars, has less than three quarters of a million in adjusted net worth, has made less than 200 thousand dollars per year for the last two years, and is either Asian-Pacific American, Sub-continent Asian American, Black American, Hispanic American, or Native American. Once again please call us if you want help with this determination.

If this is the case for your company give us a call and ez8a will update your firm’s Dun and Bradstreet Profile as needed, complete a Central Contractor Registration for you business and prepare your self certification as a Small Disadvantaged Business.

Prior to October 3rd 2008, to become certified as an SDB for purposes of certain federal contracts and subcontracts a firm had to go through a lengthy and complicated application and certification process through the Small Business Administration (SBA). Since the SDB federal regulation change on Oct 3rd 2008, firms are now allowed to self-represent their status for subcontracting purposes without first receiving any SDB certification thus greatly reducing the certification process.

The responsibility of verifying a firm's eligibility has been shifted to the agencies that use the price evaluation adjustments award contracts so once you are certified as SDB you can always be audited by the federal agency that is procuring your services. However, the rule gives the procuring agency the authority to accept SDB certifications made by other entities such as state and local governments so if your firm has any such certification you most likely will never have to deal with any audit of your certification as long as the procuring agency deems it legitimate. The SBA can initiate a review of your firm's SDB certification if it ever receives credible information calling into question your firm's certification.

This rule also deemed all SBA 8a certified firms will be considered SDB firms during their tenure in the 8a program participation. The 8a certification is an enhancement to SDB that allows small minority and women owned businesses greater access to federally designated contracts reserved exclusively for them. The SBA's 8a certification requires more work and assistance than the SDB certification, but can provide significant additional benefits to a firm.

Q. How long does an SDB certification last?

A. SDB certified firms are generally certified for a period of three years from the date of the certification. However, in the case of self certification your CCR profile must be reviewed and certified as current at least once a year.

Q. Why does the SBA no longer make companies go through the previous SDB application process to become SDB certified?

A. The program has existed since 1999 to help certified Small Disadvantaged Businesses by entitling them to receive up to a ten percent price evaluation adjustment on federal procurements. In 2004, the price evaluation adjustment was ended for some federal procuring agencies. Since there was little benefit to the firms for this certification, the SBA changed the process so that firms would not be required to go through the time and expense of completing detailed SDB applications for certification. The SBA also gave preference to SBA 8a certified firms at this time.

Q. Is there still a SDB federal contracting goal?

A. The federal government still has a goal for SDB contracting of five percent of the budget. The federal government has met and/or exceeded this goal for the last seven years. Since 1999 SDBs have gone from receiving six billion in contracts to over 25 billion in 2007. This corresponds to an increase from 3.3% to 6.6% of federal procurement during that time. While the SBA and the rest of the federal government now gives more consideration to firms with the 8a certification, it remains committed to SDB certified firms.