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8a Certification Application

SBA 8a is a certificate of ownership / diversity sponsored by the U.S. government’s Small Business Association (SBA). The 8a program is a nine-year development program that provides qualified small businesses with business training, guidance, advertising, and technical support. The programme’s first four years are a phase of development and the last five years are a phase of growth. The program’s aim is to have 8a companies graduate in a competitive business climate to go on and prosper.

To be eligible, the company must follow stringent requirements and show the social and economic drawbacks of one or more of the individuals who own it.

• At least 51 percent or more of the disadvantaged individuals must own the business. 
• By birth or naturalization, you must be an American citizen. 
• You must own a company that cannot be owned by another company  (with the exception of certain living trusts).
• The key owners have to show good character. 
• Full time managers must meet the SBA disadvantage criterion by being both socially and economically disadvantaged.
• The company must be a small business. 
• The small business needs to be able to succeed.

You can find a wealth of resources available once your small business has been accredited. These include professional business coaching, marketing support, and management development. Additional funds you are eligible to receive include SBA guaranteed loans and bond support. Furthermore,  there are sole-source contracts available for products and services not to surpass $4 million and manufacturing not to surpass $6.5 million.

Mentors give back through the 8a protégé program.

Wouldn’t it be great to have someone teaching you how to achieve success in the 8a program and beyond? The Mentor-Protégé System (8a business development) does all of this. Successful companies offer small entrepreneurs different forms of support and assistance. With this mentoring collaboration, you can be more competitive and successful in your small business while boosting the economy of our nation.

Monitoring businesses to help them succeed

SBA District Offices keep track of your company in order to help you achieve your goals. They also measure progress in the areas that follow:

• Systemic evaluations
• Annual reviews
• Business planning

Collaborating for 8a success

Once you get your foot in the door after winning a federal contract, you might want to work closely with other 8a companies to go in on large-scale contracts outside your firm’s ability. The opportunity for collaboration is a big part of the success of the 8a program and businesses that take advantage of it generally find themselves in a better financial position.

The 8a program has a life span of nine years that is divided into two phases: an initial four-year growth phase and a final five-year transitional phase.

Recent improvements have been made to apply for the 8a certificate and it now includes an online submission process. The good news is that it can take the SBA as little as a month to approve a complete, clear application. The bad news is that complicated or incomplete applications take much longer, especially if in finance, ownership, experience or other mandated requirements there are red flags.