| By :
Myra Cisse
I've spoken before about the SBA's Women Owned Small Business certification but I mainly addressed the logistics of self-certifying and using a third party certification. Today I want to address the NAICS codes that fall within the WOSB program. I won't list them here -since there are 83 of them and they represent hundreds of businesses - but I will provide you a link where you can print the lists. In February of this year, the final rule for the Woman Owned Small Business federal contract program went into effect. Like all SBA certifications, this program is designed to expand the federal contracting opportunities for Woman owned businesses, particularly in substantially underrepresented industries. So let's look at some of the NACIS codes that areunderrepresented, shall we. The program distinguishes between underrepresented and substantially underrepresented businesses - to save my fingers and the likelihood of typos, throughout the rest of this article, I'm going to use "U" and "SU" to mean underrepresented and substantially underrepresented. There are 45 four-digit NAICS codes that are considered "U" and another 38 codes considered "SU". I emphasize four-digit NAICS codes here, because a NAICS code is six digits long, so each four-digit code, usually, represents more than one type of business. For example, the four-digit NAICS code 5111 represents Newspaper, Periodical, Book and Directory Publishing. Under that four-digit code, there are 6 different six-digit NAICS codes that represent "SU" businesses.So the 83 codes represent 374 types of companies and thousands and thousands of different businesses. A lot of women wrongly assume if they aren't in the manufacturing, construction or "blue collar" type industry, they don't qualify, that couldn't be further from the truth.Yes, there are several types of manufacturers that are "SU" by women but there are a ton of other industries as well. Printing and Related Support Activities (NAICS code 3231); Offices of Real Estate Agents and Brokers (5312); Legal Services (5411); Accounting, Tax Preparation, Bookkeeping, and Payroll services (5412); and Advertising, Public Relations and Related Services (5418) are all "SU" NAICS codes. I know successful business women in each of the aforementioned categories. So, if you are a woman running a successful business and have been looking for a way to grow and expand, then the federal marketplace may be a way for you to do that. I encourage you to print the list and see if your business falls into one of the underrepresented or substantially underrepresented categories. If so, your past performance and this certification could provide you with the competitive advantage you need to succeed. http://www.sba.gov/content/contracting-opportunities-women-owned-small-businesses
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