The FAA has added the ability to set-aside individual procurements to Women Owned Small Business (WOSB) eligible under the SBA’s WOSB Program. WOSB are eligible under the WOSB Program when they are certified under the WOSB program and the acquisition is assigned a North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code in which SBA has determined that WOSB concerns are underrepresented or substantially underrepresented in Federal procurement. The SBA maintains a list of those WOSB-eligible industries and their NAICS codes. Becoming certified under the SBA’s WOSB Program makes a business eligible to compete for FAA contracts set aside for the program. In addition, WOSB firms can still compete for contract awards under other socio-economic programs they qualify for.
Eligibility requirements for WOSB Program certification includes a firm needing to be a small business concern that is at least 51 percent directly and unconditionally owned by, and the management and daily business operations of which are controlled by, one or more women who are citizens of the United States. Firms can get a preliminary assessment of whether they qualify at SBA’s beta.certify.sba.gov website.
Firms seeking certification must apply through the new process on beta.certify.sba.gov or go through an approved Third Party Certifier (TPC). Both methods will require that firms use the beta.certify.sba.gov website. For more information about the new application process, please review the following beta.certify.sba.gov fact sheet.
Currently, under the FAA’s Acquisition Management System (AMS), when appropriate, individual procurements may be awarded noncompetitively or set-aside competitively for award among WOSB eligible under the WOSB Program. Noncompetitive awards may only be made when the anticipated total value of the procurement (including all options) is $7 million or below for procurements assigned eligible manufacturing NAICS codes and $4.5 million or below for all other eligible procurements. Please visit the FAA’s AMS Policy and AMS Guidance for additional information.