Is an 8(a) Certification right for your company?

A major feature of this program is the ability to participate in federal procurements that are specifically set aside for 8(a) certified businesses. If your company is interested in doing business with federal agencies and it meets the disadvantaged SBA standards, the 8(a) certification program might be a good fit for you.

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Supplier Diversity Challenges – Registration

How many times have you registered with a government or prime vendor’s supplier diversity program? How many times have you followed up with those diversity supplier contacts? And, what or how – as one of those diverse suppliers – do you measure your net return?

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Authority to Transact Business

Some certification applications will clearly state that your firm must be “licensed” or “registered” to do business within their state prior to applying for certification; some even include a question asking if the firm is registered or licensed with the state. This authority to transact business is different from being a licensed professional contractor, engineer, architect, etc.

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Welcome to Diversity Business Blog

I’ve tried a variety of search word combinations, trying to find something, anything that talked about supplier diversity from the supplier’s point of view. The best combination “diverse supplier” got over 4.5 million hits, “supplier diversity issues” got a little less than 1.1 million, while “diverse supplier certification” only got 210,000 and many of these were multiple duplicates. Even after drilling down 1253 pages, I couldn’t find a venue for the diverse supplier … just about all of the links related to the corporate, government, or certifying agency perspective on diverse suppliers, with a few training sites and a couple of companies that facilitate SBA 8(a) certification.

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