Making It Legal:

Do you have (or want) to do business with the federal government?  Are you thinking of merging your company with another?  If so, check out the new U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) rules on small business size that went into effect on June 30th. 

As reported in Law.com, to ensure that a certain percentage of federal contracts go to “smallâ€? businesses, the federal government has (not surprisingly) a veritable thicket of rules and regulations on what constitutes “small.â€?  Unfortunately, the answer depends on the federal program — it’s not the same or straightforward answer every time. 

And now the rules have changed, so that companies that have long-term prime federal contracts (not subcontracts) in place will need to recertify their “smallness� within 4 months of the end of the fith year of their contract.  Obviouly, a merger with another company could move your business from small to “too large to qualify for this contract.� 

Subcontractors beware:  the rule doesn’t yet apply to you, but it could, soon.  The SBA has indicated it may issue a separate rule imposing recertification requirements for subcontractors. Visit the Federal Register’s website for the recertification regulation. 

If you’re at all interested in doing business with government entites, don’t go it alone.  It’s a potentially lucrative, but paperwork-heavy area.  Seek assistance from certification providers like the National Women’s Business Owner Council, and organizations like the SBA so that you’re sure you do it right!

This entry was posted on Monday, July 23rd, 2007 at 10:12 am and is filed under Legislation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

2 Responses to “Size Does Matter . . . for Women-Owned Businesses Seeking Federal Contracts”

1. women-owned Says:
   August 16th, 2007 at 10:42 pm

   Should you do a follow-up to your piece on female entrepreneurs, I’m one of them. In fact, I have launched MyWomanOwnedBusiness.com, a social networking site for women businessowners. (Think of it as the “myspace” for female entrepreneurs.) I wanted to create a space for women to gather, to ask questions of each other, to market their businesses to other women, and to share their successes.

   The site is for women who already have businesses, as well as for those who want to launch a business. It is for the woman who makes jewelry and wants to take her kitchen-table project to the next level. It is for the accountant, the software engineer, the realtor, the clothing designer, the web designer, the pet-sitter and the pediatrician. It is for any woman who wants to see her idea evolve into a business.

   Please visit http://www.MyWomanOwnedBusiness.com

   Kimberly A. Porrazzo,
   Founder, publisher

2. OC Says:
   August 14th, 2008 at 12:55 am

   Great article, thanks for the tips.

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