The Benefits of Obtaining the 8(a) Certification Outweigh the Costs By: Mark Ryan & Todd Luttenegger

For most businesses, the advantages of earning the 8(a) certification outweigh the costs. Here are the twelve main advantages that come with holding an 8(a) Certification.

One, sole-source contracting is a benefit. Federal procurement officials may award contracts to 8(a) enterprises using sole sourcing rather than a conventional bidding process. This enables 8(a) enterprises to acquire contracts at a reasonable cost without alerting their rivals to the possibility. The decrease in paperwork and time otherwise needed for the purchase is advantageous to the government agency. This sole source technique is used to award half of all 8(a) contracts.

Benefit two: Limited competition; only 8(a) certified companies may bid on contracts put out for bid by federal agencies. These are what are referred to as set-aside contracts. This restricts the field of competition to just 8(a) enterprises in that sector that are capable of operating in the necessary geographic area. Since there are only about 6,500 8(a) certified businesses, it is anticipated that three to five 8a businesses will submit bids for each contract.

Benefit three: Significant federal spending; via the 8(a) program, the federal government invests more than $30 billion annually. This amounts to an average of more than $4 million for each 8(a) firm.

The elimination of red tape is benefit number four. The amount of red tape when agencies sole-source a contract to an 8(a) entity is reduced or eliminated. This enables the 8(a) owner to continue running their firm instead of spending time creating challenging government RFQs.

The availability of multimillion-dollar sole-source contracts for goods, services, and production is benefit number five. There are also bigger set-aside contracts available.

Benefit number six: Better pricing. Compared to regular federal contractors, 8(a) enterprises obtain better pricing; a full and open-source price adjustment of up to 10% may be granted.

Benefit seven: 8(a) firms can form joint venture and mentor-protégé relationships. In what is known as a joint venture or mentor protégée agreement, 8(a) firms can collaborate with other businesses to develop their knowledge, earn contracts they might not have otherwise, and establish a federal performance history that will help them secure contracts on their own in the future.

Benefit number eight: Large scale growth is possible for 8(a) organizations, allowing them to expand considerably more quickly than other small businesses. Every year, Washington Technology releases their Fast 50. This ranking represents the federal market's fastest-growing IT contractors. The majority of the companies on this list are typically 8(a) federal contractors.

Benefit nine: The 8(a) certification increases a company's GSA Schedule contract's effectiveness. When a federal procurement official visits the web portal for market research on GSA Advantage. The procurement officer has a straightforward procedure for locating a capable 8(a) corporation to carry out their agency's goal. Due to this, GSA Schedule-holding 8(a) firms have a 300% advantage over their competitors who do not have GSA Schedules.

Benefit ten: 8(a) is well suited to the construction sector; 8(a) construction companies are successful at obtaining government and military contracts, which allows them to outperform their competitors. Construction firms make up about 30% of all 8(a) certified businesses.

The nature of the sole source contracting vehicle with an 8(a) certification makes it possible for 8(a) firms to quickly get contracts during a national disaster, accelerating the process of recovery. Over 550 presidential disasters have occurred in the past ten years. Over eleven billion dollars are typically spent by the federal government each year on disaster relief.

Twelve 8(a) firms grow to be huge companies, and 30% of 8(a) certified firms graduate as large federal prime contractors as a result of their past performance, procurement connections, and prime contractor contacts. They frequently earn more than $100 million annually.

Give us a call at 859-572-4492 if you need advice on how to meet the requirements for the 8(a) certification or if you have questions about any of these advantages.