Small Disadvantaged Business

Each year, the Federal Government awards about 10% of all federal contract dollars, or roughly $50 billion in contracts, to Small Disadvantaged Businesses. SBA’s Office of Government Contracting and Business Development monitors the progress of 24 Executive Branch agencies in contracting with Small Disadvantaged Businesses.

You may register your business as a Small Disadvantaged Business if you meet the following criteria set by the Code of Federal Regulations: 

• The firm must be 51% or more owned and controlled by one or more disadvantaged persons. 
• The disadvantaged person or persons must be socially disadvantaged and economically disadvantaged.
• The firm must be small, according to SBA’s size standards.

You can find the full qualification criteria in this Code issued by SBA.

To register, you must sign up at SAM.gov. During the sign up process, you will be provided an opportunity to select “Small Disadvantaged Business.” This will help federal procurement officials to identify your business during market research.

In addition to registering your business as a Small Disadvantaged Business, your firm might also meet the requirements for any of the following programs:   

• The 8(a) Business Development program provides managerial, technical, and contractual assistance to Small Disadvantaged Businesses to ready the firm and its owners for success in the private industry. Eligibility of the 8(a) program relies in part on criteria for Small Disadvantaged Businesses but has additional requirements related to the business itself.
• The HUBZone program helps small businesses in urban and rural communities gain preferential access to federal procurement opportunities. These preferences go to small businesses that obtain HUBZone certification in part by employing staff who live in a HUBZone. The company must also maintain a "principal office" in one of these specially designated areas.
• The Women-Owned Small Business Federal contracting program authorizes contracting officers to set aside certain federal contracts for eligible women-owned small businesses.
• The Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business program provides procuring agencies with the authority to set acquisitions aside for exclusive competition among service-disabled veteran-owned small business concerns.