SBA's small business programs: 8(a), HUBZone, women-owned and veteran-owned
What SBA's 8(a), HUBZone, women-owned and veteran-owned programs are, where SBA takes applications, and why SBA, not this page, decides who qualifies.
Updated
The Small Business Administration (SBA) runs four programs owners often ask about: 8(a) Business Development, HUBZone, the Women-Owned Small Business program (WOSB and EDWOSB), and the veteran-owned program (VOSB and SDVOSB). Each starts with a SAM.gov registration and an application on SBA's own site, and SBA decides who qualifies. This page explains the programs and does not say whether your business qualifies for any of them.
What are SBA's small business programs?
The U.S. Small Business Administration, SBA, runs several programs for small businesses that want to sell to the federal government. Four come up most often: 8(a) Business Development, HUBZone, the Women-Owned Small Business Federal Contract Program, and the Veteran Small Business Certification program for veteran-owned and service-disabled veteran-owned businesses.
Each program has its own rules, set by regulation and applied by SBA. Agencies can limit some contracts to businesses in a program. Being in a program does not mean a contract will follow.
Which program is which?
8(a) Business Development is for small businesses owned and controlled by people SBA's rules treat as socially and economically disadvantaged. HUBZone is for small businesses whose principal office is in a Historically Underutilized Business Zone and some of whose employees live in one.
The women-owned program covers women-owned small businesses (WOSB) and economically disadvantaged women-owned small businesses (EDWOSB). The veteran program covers veteran-owned small businesses (VOSB) and service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses (SDVOSB). Each program has a guide of its own, listed under “Read next” below this guide.
What comes first?
A SAM.gov registration comes first. SBA's applications ask for the Unique Entity ID that registration gives your business. The guide on how to register walks the order of a first registration.
Your SAM.gov registration also asks you to make representations about your business, and some of them name these programs. Those answers are yours. This guide does not suggest one, and neither does Firmenza.
Where do I apply?
On SBA's own site. SBA describes each program at sba.gov, and takes applications for all four, the veteran-owned program included, through SBA Certifications, at certifications.sba.gov.
SBA does not charge a fee to apply on its own site. A paid helper can prepare the paperwork, but SBA reads the same application and makes the same decision either way.
Who decides whether my business qualifies?
SBA does. It reads each application against its rules and decides. Firmenza does not decide, and this page does not say whether your business qualifies for any program.
Most of these rules turn on size, on who owns and controls the business, and on whether another business has to be counted with yours. Those are questions about your own facts. Take them to a free counselor or an attorney. The card just below this guide names places to ask.
Where is free help?
APEX Accelerators, Small Business Development Centers and SCORE counsel small businesses at no charge, and that includes going through an SBA program's rules and application with you. The guide on the free help that already exists names them.
An attorney is the right call when a question turns on how SBA's ownership, control or affiliation rules apply to your own arrangement.
Read next
- What is SBA's 8(a) Business Development program?
- What is SBA's HUBZone program, and where is the HUBZone map?
- What is SBA's Women-Owned Small Business program (WOSB and EDWOSB)?
- What is SBA's veteran-owned small business program (VOSB and SDVOSB)?
- Federal contracts for a small business: where do I start?
- The free help that already exists
Check your own record
The free health check reads the public SAM.gov record and tells you what it says — status, expiration date, and what is worth a second look.