The WOSB Federal Contracting Program, Explained

What is the WOSB Federal Contracting Program?

The Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) Federal Contract Program is a federal set-aside program run by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). It is authorized under the Small Business Act and governed by the regulations at 13 CFR Part 127. The program lets federal contracting officers restrict competition to, or award sole-source contracts to, certified women-owned small businesses in industries where women-owned firms have been underrepresented.

It exists to help the government reach its statutory goal of awarding at least 5% of all federal prime contract and subcontract dollars to women-owned small businesses each year, under 15 U.S.C. 644(g).

What do I need to qualify for WOSB certification?

To qualify as a WOSB under 13 CFR 127.200, a firm must be a small business under SBA size standards and be at least 51% unconditionally and directly owned and controlled by one or more women who are U.S. citizens. The qualifying women must manage day-to-day operations and make the long-term decisions.

Ownership has to be both unconditional and direct under 13 CFR 127.201 — held by the women themselves, not through another entity or trust, and not subject to agreements that could shift the benefits of ownership to someone else.

What makes a firm an EDWOSB instead of a WOSB?

EDWOSB applies the same ownership and control rules, plus three economic-disadvantage thresholds on the owning woman under 13 CFR 127.203. As currently set, she must have a personal net worth under $850,000; if her adjusted gross income averaged over the prior three years exceeds $400,000, SBA presumes she is not economically disadvantaged; and she is generally not considered disadvantaged if the fair market value of all her assets exceeds $6.5 million. The net-worth test excludes her stake in the business, the equity in her primary residence, and funds in qualified retirement accounts.

Can I still self-certify as a WOSB?

No. Self-certification ended on October 15, 2020. Since then a firm must be formally certified to win WOSB or EDWOSB set-aside or sole-source contracts, per SBA's May 2020 final rule. A self-attestation alone is no longer enough.

There are two main paths to certification, and both are free for the WOSB designation itself:

• Apply directly to SBA through the free MySBA Certifications portal at certify.sba.gov. Per 13 CFR 127.300, there is no cost to apply to SBA for certification.
• Use an SBA-approved Third-Party Certifier (TPC). SBA recognizes four: the Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), the U.S. Women's Chamber of Commerce, the National Women Business Owners Corporation (NWBOC), and the El Paso Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Even with a TPC, the firm uploads its certificate and citizenship proof to MySBA before bidding.

How do I get certified as a WOSB or EDWOSB?

The process runs through SBA's free online platform and requires an active registration in SAM.gov, where your UEI, EIN, and the NAICS codes used to judge size eligibility all live. The high-level steps:

How long does WOSB certification last?

Certification runs on a three-year cycle. Under 13 CFR 127.400, a certified firm must undergo a program examination every three years and recertify with SBA within 90 days of the end of its eligibility period, or SBA will decertify it. SBA has also issued a temporary one-year recertification extension for firms whose renewal date falls between June 2024 and May 2026 — verify your current renewal date in the portal before relying on it.

How do set-asides and sole-source awards actually work?

A contracting officer can set a contract aside for WOSBs or EDWOSBs only in NAICS industries SBA has designated, and only when, based on market research, there is a reasonable expectation that two or more eligible firms will bid and award can be made at a fair and reasonable price — the WOSB version of the 'Rule of Two' (13 CFR 127.503).

• Designated industries only. The current 2022 designation covers 759 NAICS codes — 646 'substantially underrepresented' (open to WOSB set-asides) and 113 'underrepresented' (open to EDWOSB set-asides).
• Sole-source thresholds. When only one capable firm is expected, a sole-source award is allowed up to $7 million for manufacturing NAICS codes and $4.5 million for all other requirements.
• Verification is registry-based. Contracting officers confirm a firm's status in SBA's Small Business Search before award, not on the vendor's word.

Is WBENC certification the same as WOSB?

Not exactly. WBENC's flagship WBE (Women's Business Enterprise) certification is aimed at corporate and private-sector supplier-diversity programs, requires an on-site visit, and is renewed annually. WOSB is the federal set-aside credential with a three-year SBA term. The two are complementary: because WBENC is an SBA-approved third-party certifier, a firm applying for WBE certification can pursue WOSB certification at the same time. Holding one does not automatically confer the other, and a separate credential — MBE (minority-owned) — is issued by the NMSDC for a different purpose entirely.

Finding certified women-owned vendors

On Womyn Owned, the directory tracks 5,581 SBA-certified WOSB and EDWOSB B2B vendors — of which 1,831 hold the EDWOSB designation — across all 50 states plus DC and Puerto Rico, organized into roughly 18 industry categories. Among them, 945 firms show federal contract activity totaling about $2.83 billion in obligations. Listings are sourced from the SBA's Small Business Search and USAspending.gov, so buyers can confirm certification at the source. The largest vendor pools are in Virginia (520), California (494), Texas (489), Florida (472), Georgia (400), and Maryland (357).