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Federal Market Intelligence for Small Business |
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Set-Aside Alert news analysis:SBA proposes WOSB cert. rule; Wong says certification staff workload may increase 6-foldWOSB certification implementation postponed to 2021The Small Business Administration recently published its long-awaited proposed rule for eliminating self-certification for the Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) Program and for setting up a formal certification process for the program. Under the rule, the SBA would establish a no-cost WOSB certification process run by the SBA, accept some state and federal certifications, and also would authorize third-party certifiers that may or may not charge a fee for performing WOSB certifications. Congress ordered the SBA to set up a WOSB certification program in the 2015 national defense bill. Nearly four and a half years later, lawmakers at a House hearing on the WOSB program on May 16 were critical of the SBA’s delay--especially when they learned of yet another apparent pushback in implementation. Another delay A rollback of the implementation timeline was revealed at the hearing by Robb Wong, SBA’s associate administrator for government contracting and business development. At the hearing, Rep. Pete Stauber, R-MN, noted that the Government Accountability Office had recently indicated that a WOSB certification program would be in place at the SBA by Jan. 1, 2020. But Wong, at the hearing, mentioned implementation would take effect in June a year later. “Did you just say 2021?” Stauber asked Wong at the hearing. “Yes, sir,” Wong replied. “That is the frustrating thing,” Stauber responded. Wong’s testimony Wong gave an impassioned and candid explanation of the challenges of setting up the new WOSB certification program to the House Small Business Subcommittee on Contracting and Infrastructure. He said SBA staffing and budgeting limitations have hampered implementation. “With the current (staffing) level that we have, we are basically trying to increase their workload by six times with a ‘thank-you-very-much-I-appreciate-you.’ Wong said at the hearing. The SBA currently reviews about 2,000 applications annually for 8(a) certification with 53 staffers, and reviews about 1,500 applications annually for HUBZone certification with 17 staffers, he said. Currently there are potentially 11,000 self-certified WOSBs that are likely to seek certification from the SBA, while the SBA has only 7 full-time employees devoted to WOSBs, he added. Wong said he requested a three-fold increase in staffing to carry out the WOSB certifications but was told “no” by SBA’s Chief Financial Officer. As a result of being denied extra staffing, Wong said he is trying to accomplish the task of certifying thousands of WOSBs with current staff by reengineering the workload among all existing certification staff in his division. Under Wong’s so-called “Blueprint” plan, all 8(a), HUBZone and WOSB reviewers will review applications for all three programs. Previously, each reviewer only reviewed those in his or her assigned program. Wong said he is optimistic the new approach will be effective but he acknowledged that it has been an uphill climb due to “20 years of broken systems” and processes at the SBA. “The challenge is to do something that is six to 10 times larger with the people we have. That is what we are doing,” Wong said. Asked if the quality of the reviews will suffer if workers are overstretched, Wong agreed that is a risk. “We are trying to do as much quality as we can. We are not making a sacrifice (of) quality. That may happen. We can be criticized on the amount that we’re doing and the vigilance that we are doing. But I guarantee that we are trying to do everything we can do without asking for help,” Wong said at the hearing. Asked at the hearing whether he has estimated the budget and staffing that is needed to effectively implement a WOSB certification program at the SBA, Wong said he is “working on it.” SBA’s proposed rule Key elements of SBA’s proposed WOSB certification rule include:
Comments are due by July 15. The rule also proposes changes in the allowed net worth of 8(a) owners to harmonize with the amount for EDWOSB owners. (Click to read related story in this issue)
More information:
Fed Register proposed rule: https://bit.ly/2VyvzGV
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