How Minorities Can Get Lucrative Government Contracts
There were certain groups that have experienced discrimination in the past that were not related to their individual qualifications. This discrimination kept them from participating in the free market because they did not have access to capital.
In response, the Federal government tries to award contracts to businesses that are at least fifty one percent owned by those from disadvantaged groups.
Small Businesses Are Given Special Consideration When It Comes To Government Contracts
In many markets, small businesses are often outcompeted by larger organizations that often have access to almost unlimited resources. This set aside actually might increase a small businesss chances of winning a lucrative bid.
The federal government is required to set aside at least 23 percent of its total spending specifically for small businesses. Several small businesses have made a fortune just on federal government contract awards.
How Do I Know That Being A Government Contractor Is Right For My Company?
There is very little certainty in business. Having a powerful client that is known for paying its bills on time, like our Federal Government, is a great asset.
Also, many of your competitors might be dismissing the idea of being a government contractor as being too much trouble. This means that there could be surprisingly little competition in some spaces. Their shortsightedness can be your companys advantage.
What Qualifies As A Small Business?
What Is The SAM Directory?
- African-Americans
Drug Testing For Applicants
The United States adopted the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act in 1996, which gave individual states the authority to drug test welfare recipients. Drug testing in order for potential recipients to receive welfare has become an increasingly controversial topic. Richard Hudson, a Republican from North Carolina claims he pushes for drug screening as a matter of âmoral obligationâ and that testing should be enforced as a way for the United States government to discourage drug usage. Others claim that ordering the needy to drug test âstereotypes, stigmatizes, and criminalizesâ them without need. States that currently require drug tests to be performed in order to receive public assistance include Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Utah.
What Is A Minority
According to the government law, twenty-three percent of federal government contracts must be offered and rewarded to small businesses. Five percent of it is meant for minority-owned companies.
One of the prerequisites for being classified as a minority-owned business enterprises is that the organization is majority-owned by people who face social and economic disadvantages. The Small Business Administrations categorizes it as African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Pacific Americans, Subcontinent Asia Americans, and Native Americans.
Minority-owned businesses are part of the 8 certification program that intends to assist minority-owned businesses in remaining competitive in the federal contracting market.
However, your business does not necessarily need to belong to the categorized group to be part of the small minority-owned businesses and compete on a free enterprise system. All you have to do to be considered is demonstrate that your organization has economic and social disadvantage issues.
Also, your business can be a member of an economically disadvantaged group if you do not have much access to credit opportunities and capital from the free market.
Here are more pointers to identify your business as a minority-owned business.
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Free Grants And Grant Scams
If you receive information stating you qualify for a âfree grant,â itâs probably a scam. Get information from the Federal Trade Commission so you can better recognize and avoid grant scams. If you have been a victim of a grant scam, you can file a complaint with the FTC.
Contact your state consumer protection office if you have purchased a book or paid a fee to get grant information and are not satisfied.
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Government Contracting Program May Be Failing Minority Businesses
A federal program that subsidizes minority-owned businesses is not equipping them for success, a new study finds.
Minorities face all sorts of headwinds when trying to start a business in the United States. Researchers have shown that black people have less access to higher education, receive worse terms when applying for loans, and have fewer self-employed family members from whom to learn the entrepreneurial arts. The fact is that Americans from minority communities are less represented than white people in the countrys business culture.
The U.S. Small Business Administration runs a program designed to change the status quo. Under Section 8 of the Small Business Act of 1953, Congress directed this federal agency to steer government contracts to businesses owned by citizens from minority backgrounds and others with socioeconomic hardships. The 8 Business Development Program, as its known, helps these people with management training, technical assistance and mentoring, and access to government contracts without competition for up to nine years. The idea is to grow businesses in disadvantaged communities, according to the SBA: The 8 program is an essential instrument for helping socially and economically disadvantaged entrepreneurs gain access to the economic mainstream of American society. The program helps thousands of aspiring entrepreneurs to gain a foothold in government contracting.
Key takeaways:
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Federal Affirmative Action Programs
Since Adarand, several lower federal courts have addressed the issue of congressional authority to fashion affirmative action remedies. Courts in these cases have, with one exception, generally concluded from the record of committee hearings and other documentary evidence before Congress that the government had a compelling interest for the program in question. However, in applying the constitutional demand for a “narrowly tailored” remedy, there is a divergence of judicial opinion as to whether states or localities must independently justify the use of racial preferences to implement federal mandates within their individual jurisdictions.
But these findings did not shield the Washington State program from Fourteenth Amendment challenge. Because the record was “devoid of any evidence suggesting that minorities currently sufferâor have ever sufferedâdiscrimination” in the award of transportation infrastructure contracts within Washington State, the court found that the state’s implementation program “is not narrowly tailored to further Congress’ remedial objectives.” A narrowly tailored remedy “depends on the absence or presence of discrimination,” the court urged, and it was not enough “simply the state complied with the federal program’s requirements.” Thus, each of the six principal minority groups identified in Washington’s DBE program must be shown to have suffered contract award discrimination.
Government Goals For Women And Minority Businesses Not Met
Still, its by no means a perfect system, especially for women-owned small businesses and those located in historically underutilized business zones . The women-owned small businesses federal contracting goal has been met just twice since it was established in 1994 and the HUBZone goal has never been met, Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon wrote in a recent op-ed for CNBC in which he voiced the banks support for the first reauthorization by Congress of the SBA in over two decades to provide it with more ability to support small business.
In 2021, women-owned small businesses received $26.2 billion in federal contracts, representing 4.63% of the fiscal year 2021 total eligible dollars, the SBA said. The goal was 5%.
HUBZone small businesses, meanwhile, received a historic $14.3 billion in federal contract awards, translating into 2.53% of the fiscal year 2021 total eligible dollars. Its the highest level in about 10 years, Guzman said, but still falls short of the governments 3% statutory goal.
While the agency didnt meet these goals, Guzman said they are still on the horizon.
For women-owned businesses, SBA has increased the number of certified firms to nearly 6,000 from about 1,000. It has also expanded the NAICS codes, the classification system used by the government for business categories, for which women-owned businesses can receive set-aside awards. More than 92% of federal spending is covered by NAICS codes eligible for WOSB set-aside awards, according to the SBA.
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How Do You Get Awarded Government Contracts
You can begin bidding for and winning minority contracts when youve accomplished all of the preceding processes.
Once the federal government gives the solicitation information for government contractors, they always indicate in their posting if it is open for large contractors, minority-owned enterprises, women, and or small businesses.
Indeed, government contracting as well as get certified is tricky at first glance. But once you get along with it, you will surely master it and instantly get contracts in the future.
There are available resources that you can use as you take the path of the organizations ownership. Any that remains is for you to get a complete awareness and dig deeper into how federal contracts work and all the similar line of information.
Founder Of Shes Got Goals Llc And The Trillion Dollar Secret To Government Contracts As A 20+ Year Business Vet Who Successfully Built Two Small Businesses She Teaches Small Business Entrepreneurs How To Grow Their Business With Government Contracts So They Can Have Consistent Sustainable Income And Get Paid Top Dollars By The #1 Largest Purchaser Of Services In The Us Without Chasing Customers
Over the past couple years this Government Contracts Strategist has helped over 200+ entrepreneurs generate upwards of 3 million of dollars and growing in revenues.Karwannas been featured on CBS, NBC, FOX, Star Tribune Business, Best Business Digest, SBA SBDC, Ticker News, The LIST TV Show and more and has shared the stage with major leaders including Les Brown, Trent Shelton, Dr. George Frazier, Stacia Pierce and others.
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National Association Of Black Journalists
The National Association of Black Journalists is an organization that is vested to provide helpful information, grants and scholarships to black students that are interested in a career in journalism. The provides opportunities for black women to help them apply for the scholarships and grants that they provide to the tune of $25,000.
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Minority Small Business Grants
As a minority business owner, it is important to explore your options when it comes to applying for minority small business grants.
Grants for minority small business owners as you can tell, are few and far between, However, with the right business mindset, you can apply for small business grants successfully.
The quest for grants is not only limited to small business funding. This means you can also get grants even if you are as small business grants Texas minority or looking for Illinois small business grants for minorities.
Are there grants for minority businesses? Yes, there are! Heres how you can find them below.
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Create A Business Plan
Once you have chosen the business industry you want to work with, your next step is to plot all your business logistics in a plan and other written documents.
Writing a business plan is not only a valuable tool for planning your business, but it is also a comprehensive tool as you make your business decisions.
Furthermore, depending on the type of business youre beginning, your business plan will vary. In this way, it is helpful to draft a few different versions of your strategy based on what your business needs to fill in, such as pitching to investors, building your team, applying for a loan, expanding, etc.
Montgomery County Procurement Resources
- Montgomery County Office of Procurement, provides information and guidelines regarding the purchase of services and products by Montgomery County government.
- Contracting Information – review current opportunities on the Office of Procurement web site and research existing County contracts using dataMontgomery.
- Contract Administrators – departmental contacts that purchase goods and services.
- How to do business with the Montgomery County Department of Health & Human Resources.
- How to become a contractor for the Montgomery County Department of Recreation.
- How to do business with the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services.
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Government Training Programs For Small Business Owners
Its a really, in my opinion, just a really important step one. Government agencies also provide training. The other reason a lot of businesses fail is because of lack of expertise. Even if youre a really good accountant, theres is a very strong possibility that you might not be a good operational person or a good marketing person.
Having access to information about what you need to do and where you can get access to people who can help you with this is important. You dont want to have the mindset when youre about to start a business that youre great at accounting yet you keep yourself in a bubble, especially when all of these resources are available to people free of charge.
Working with government simply means taking advantage of programs that are in place right in our own backyard. Lets start with the Small Business Administration. Thats an entire entity whose entire focus is helping small businesses grow. You dont have to be a nonprofit. You can be a regular citizen looking for opportunities to grow your business.
The one thing I can tell you from personal experience in working with the government is that getting a government contract helps a business to scale. Its part of a strategy people can use to increase their revenue.
Obtain Certification And Duns Number
The Data Universal Numbering System, or DUNS Number, of Dun & Bradstreet , is a nine-digit identification number used to identify a company or firm instantaneously. DUNS numbers do not alter throughout a companys existence.
The DUNS Number is also used to keep track of trades and financial transactions all around the world. Using the DUNS Request Services platform, you can get a DUNS Number online.
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The Best Federal Agencies For Small Business Contracts
Guzman said she is encouraged by the positive developments in the past fiscal year. Notably, 21 of the 24 agencies monitored by the SBA received an “A+” or “A” rating on its scorecard.
The 11 agencies to receive an “A+” grade are: The Department of Commerce, The Department of Homeland Security, The Department of Labor, The Department of State, The Department of the Interior, The Environmental Protection Agency, The General Services Administration, The National Science Foundation, The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, The Office of Personnel Management and The Small Business Administration.
Ten agencies received an “A” grade: The Agency for International Development, The Department of Agriculture, The Department of Defense, The Department of Education,The Department of Energy, The Department of Justice, The Department of Transportation, The Department of Veterans Affairs, The National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Social Security Administration.
Usda Water & Waste Disposal Loan & Grant Program
The USDA offers a grant program to nonprofit organizations, government entities and federally-recognized tribes to support businesses from eligible rural communities that operate in the water and waste disposal fields. Eligible business recipients must also have a maximum of 50 new employees for a chance to qualify for funding.
The USDA offers both loans and grants to eligible businessesboth minority-owned and otherwise. Grants may be combined with USDA loans in certain circumstances to keep the overall financing costs affordable to qualified borrowers. You can use the grants for a variety of purposes, including:
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Can I Get Help Paying My Utility Bills
There are a number of government programs available to help defer the costs of utility bills.
The Lifeline program run by the Federal Communications Commission helps low-income individuals and families get discounted landline and cell phone service. Lifeline provides a monthly discount of up to $9.25 on monthly telephone service, broadband Internet access service, or voice-broadband bundled service purchased from participating providers. Subscribers can receive a Lifeline discount on either a wireline or a wireless service, and you can get one Lifeline service per household.
Lifeline is available to eligible low-income consumers in every state, commonwealth, territory, and on Tribal lands. To be eligible, you must have an income at or below 135% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines or participate in certain federal assistance programs, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program , Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income , Federal Public Housing Assistance , Veterans Pension and Survivors Benefit, or Tribal programs . You can check online to see what providers offer Lifeline services in your area and see if and what kind of benefits you might qualify for.
Entrepreneurship Is A Team Effort
Entrepreneurship is the way that people can change their circumstances. As an entrepreneur, you can create your own salary. You create your own reality.
Sometimes, having a job limits you. Not that theres anything wrong with having a job, but as an entrepreneur, you have the opportunity to create something special and uniquenot only for yourself, but for your family, for your community.
My last bit of advice is dont go it alone. Take the time to ask for help and explore what resources are available to you as a taxpayer, so that you can live your dream if entrepreneurship is something that you really want to do.
A small business and MWBE growth specialist, advocate, executive coach and trainer, Jean Kristensen is a woman on a mission to help others achieve their mission. Whether mentoring budding entrepreneurs, developing growth and marketing strategies for small businesses or consulting government agencies or prime contractors on fulfilling participation goals with qualified vendors, she is uniquely skilled at supporting clients reach their next level of success with measurable improvements and increases in revenue.
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