Women-Owned Small Business Federal 

Contract Program

April 2011

The Women-Owned Small Business Federal Contract Program provides equal access to federal 

contracting opportunities for women-owned small businesses (WOSB) and economically 

disadvantaged women-owned small businesses (EDWOSBs). The program allows contracting 

officers to set aside specific federal contracts for WOSBs and EDWOSBs. 

General Program Details: 

The WOSB Program became effective in the Federal Acquisition Regulation on April 1, 2011 – and

the WOSB Program Repository has been available since February 4, 2011. SBA has and will continue 

to hold a number of training and outreach events to help small businesses and the federal 

procurement communities understand the program and its requirements, as well as provide 

detailed information on the SBA website. The goal is for WOSBs and EDWOSBs to be ready to 

compete for contracts awarded in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2011, which is when the largest 

percent of small business contracts are awarded. 

Eligibility Requirements for the Program:

To be an eligible WOSB, a company must: 

• Be a small business that is at least 51% percent unconditionally and directly owned and 

controlled by one or more women who are United States citizens.

• Have a woman manage the day-to-day operations, make long-term decisions for the 

business, hold the highest officer position in the business and work at the business full-time 

during normal working hours. 

To be an eligible EDWOSB, a company must: 

• Be a WOSB that is at least 51% owned by one or more women who are “economically 

disadvantaged”. 

• Have an economically disadvantaged woman manage the day-to-day operations, make longterm decisions for the business, hold the highest officer position in the business and work at 

the business full-time during normal working hours. A woman is presumed economically 

disadvantaged if she has a personal net worth of less than $750,000 (with some exclusions), 

her adjusted gross yearly income averaged over the three years preceding the certification 

less than $350,000, and the fair market value of all her assets is less than $6 million.

Please note that for both WOSB and EDWOSB, the 51% ownership must be unconditional and 

direct. 
Certification:

To participate in the Program, a WOSB or EDWOSB must meet the eligibility requirements and

either 1) self-certify their business OR (2) be certified by an SBA-approved Third-Party Certifier. 

All WOSBs and EDWOSBs must register their status in the Central Contractor Registration (CCR) 

and the Online Representations and Certifications Application (ORCA), as well as upload required

documents to the WOSB Program Repository. CCR and ORCA have been updated to allow WOSBs 

and EDWOSBs to register and certify. The WOSB Program Repository has been available since

February 4th. 

Third-Party Certification: A third party certifier is a national certifying entity approved by the 

Administrator that may engage in the certification process for the WOSB Program. At this time, no 

third party certifiers have been approved by SBA. SBA is currently in the process of reviewing 

applications for third party certifiers. We will post the names of the approved third party certifiers 

on www.sba.gov/wosb. 

SBA will accept certifications by SBA of 8(a) BD Participants as long as the 8(a) BD Participant is 51% 

owned and controlled by one or more women and the business is currently in the BD program. 

However, a certified 8(a) BD Participant still needs to submit their 8(a) certification and WOSB 

certification to the WOSB Program Repository. 

Contracting Details:

Eligible Industry Codes: There are over 300 6-digit North American Industry Classification Systems 

(NAICS) codes that are eligible for Federal contracting under the WOSB Program. 

Contracting officers may set aside a requirement for WOSBs if: 

• The NAICS code is in an industry in which SBA has designated that WOSBs are substantially 

underrepresented. 

• The contracting officer has a reasonable expectation that two or more WOSBs will submit 

offers. 

• The anticipated award price of the contract does not exceed $6.5 million in the case of 

manufacturing contracts and $4 million in the case of all other contracts. 

• The contracting officer believes the contract can be awarded at a fair and reasonable price. 

Contracting officers may set aside a requirement for EDWOSBs if: 

• The NAICS code is in an industry in which SBA has designated that WOSBs are 

underrepresented. 
• The contracting officer has a reasonable expectation that two or more EDWOSBs will submit 

offers. 

• The anticipated award price of the contract does not exceed $6.5 million in the case of 

manufacturing contracts and $4 million in the case of all other contracts. 

• In the estimation of the contracting officer, the contract can be awarded at a fair and 

reasonable price. 

**For more information, please read the WOSB Federal Contract program regulations in the 

Federal Register and the Compliance Guide for the WOSB Federal Contract Program. Additional 

information can also be obtained by visiting the WOSB Federal Contract Program web page at 

www.sba.gov/wosb.