AIA Powerful & SBA Conferences on Women Owned Businesses

J S D A Inc. is a 100% woman owned business (WBE) and attended a recent contractor presentation meeting held by the local SBA. J S D A Inc. holds several WBE certifications. Women in architecture, a subgroup of the AIA has also hosted a women empowerment conference that J S D A staff attended. The Small Business Association (SBA) has recently proposed increasing federal contracts for women-owned businesses. Antonio Doss, district director for the Washington Metropolitan Area District Office, U.S. Small Business Administration, sat down with Black Enterprise to share some more information about it. With new initiatives, J S D A Inc. is poised to reap the rewards. Interior design firms can serve as prime contractors on southern California contracts. As of now, the SBA has proposed that Women-Owned small businesses be given additional contracting authority to enable their growth in the $400 billion federal contracting marketplace. The Sole-Source provision will be implemented enabling eligible Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) and Economically Disadvantaged WOSB (EDWOSB) firms an opportunity to receive sole-source awards from a federal agency. The SBA’s added authority for WOSBs is a result of the passage of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) 2015, which additionally provides for the sole-source authority and the establishment of a certification system. While the SBA continues its review of the certification legislation, the current policy of self-certification and the use of SBA authorized third-party certifiers will remain in place.