American Maintenance & Supplies recently received the Small Business Administration’s 8a Certification, reports Arturo Garcia III, Owner. “This is a big opportunity for us, to be considered for large government and large company contracts,” said Garcia.
What is SBA 8a Certification?
According to the SBA: The 8(a) Business Development Program is a business assistance program for small disadvantaged businesses. The 8(a) Program offers a broad scope of assistance to firms that are owned and controlled at least 51% by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals.
“We wanted to proactively increase our ability to gain access to government contracting and larger companies that have diversity policies that state certain percentages of contractors hired must be with companies that have obtained this designation.” said Garcia.
Requirements of the SBA 8a Program
Companies with the SBA 8a Certification must maintain a balance between their commercial and government business. In addition, they must limit the total dollar value of sole-source contracts.
SBA district offices also monitor and measure progress with annual reviews, business planning and evaluations.
Another benefit to American Maintenance & Supplies is that we can now take advantage of business training, counseling, marketing help and executive development.
As an SBA 8(a) Certified company, we can also be eligible for assistance in obtaining access to surplus government property and supplies, SBA-guaranteed loans, and bonding assistance for being involved in the program.
Visit this page for more information about the SBA 8a Business Development Program.