Does Substantially Underrepresented Women Benefit from WOSB Certification ?
Over the past few years, we are speaking with SBA regarding WOSB certification but I mainly addressed the logistics of self-certifying and using a third party certification. Today I want to address the NAICS codes that also fall within the WOSB certification program. I won't list them here -since there are 83 of them and they represent hundreds of businesses.
Recently,
Woman Owned Small Business federal contract program went into effect. Like all
SBA certifications, this program is designed to expand the federal contracting
opportunities with WOSB certification for Woman owned businesses,
particularly in substantially underrepresented industries. So let's look at
some of the NACIS codes that are underrepresented, shall we.
What’s Special about the Program
The
program distinguishes between underrepresented and substantially underrepresented
businesses. There are 45 four-digit NAICS codes that are considered
"Underrepresented" and another 38 codes considered
"substantially underrepresented”. I emphasize four-digit NAICS codes here,
because a NAICS code is six digits long, so each four-digit code, usually,
represents more than one type of business.
For
example, the four-digit NAICS code 5111 represents Newspaper, Periodical, Book
and Directory Publishing. Under that four-digit code, there are 6 different
six-digit NAICS codes that represent "substantially underrepresented"
businesses. So the 83 codes represent 374 types of companies and thousands and
thousands of different businesses.
A lot
of women wrongly assume if they aren't in the manufacturing, construction or
"blue collar" type industry, they don't qualify, that couldn't be
further from the truth. Yes, there are several types of manufacturers that are
“substantially underrepresented" by women but there are a ton of other
industries as well. Printing and Related Support Activities (NAICS code 3231);
Offices of Real Estate Agents and Brokers (5312); Legal Services (5411);
Accounting, Tax Preparation, Bookkeeping, and Payroll services (5412); and
Advertising, Public Relations and Related Services (5418) are all
"substantially underrepresented" NAICS codes.
Final Thoughts
So,
if you are a woman running a successful business and have been looking for a
way to grow and expand, get the wosb certification then
the federal marketplace may be a way for you to do that. I encourage you to
preserve the list and see if your business falls into one of the
underrepresented or substantially underrepresented categories. If so, your past
performance and this certification and edwosb benefits could provide you with the competitive advantage you need to
succeed.
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