Women-Owned Small Business Program (WOSB/EDWOSB)
The Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) program, created by section 8(m) of the Small Business Act, lets contracting officers set aside contracts, and make limited sole-source awards, to SBA-certified women-owned small businesses in NAICS codes where SBA finds women-owned firms underrepresented.
SBA certifies WOSBs and EDWOSBs under 13 CFR Part 127; contracting officers confirm status in SAM or a pending application in the Dynamic Small Business Search. Set-asides run only in NAICS codes SBA has designated: EDWOSB competition where women-owned firms are underrepresented, WOSB competition where they are substantially underrepresented. The current lists live on SBA's website.
The EDWOSB tier layers economic disadvantage tests from 13 CFR 127.203 on top of certification: personal net worth under $850,000 excluding the business and primary-residence equity, adjusted gross income averaging under $400,000 across the prior three years, and total assets under $6.5 million. Sole source under FAR 19.1506 is available when the contracting officer does not expect two or more certified concerns to offer and the price, including options, will not exceed $8.5 million in manufacturing NAICS codes or $5.5 million in any other.
The designation is where set-asides break: a WOSB set-aside in a code designated only for EDWOSB competition, or in an undesignated code, has no authority behind it no matter how many certified firms exist. Check the list against the NAICS code assigned to this acquisition, not the one on the incumbent contract.
Regulatory Reference
15 U.S.C. 637(m); 13 CFR Part 127; FAR Subpart 19.15
RFO Status
The Part 19 model deviation reorganizes small business coverage into presolicitation, evaluation-and-award, and postaward subparts; Part 19 is not in the June 2026 first-batch proposed rules, so published subpart 19.15 still controls absent an agency deviation.
Category
Programs & Pathways
How AcqBot Helps
AcqBot checks the acquisition's NAICS code against SBA's current WOSB and EDWOSB designation lists before a set-aside decision is drafted, verifies each prospective offeror's certification in SAM, and documents the two-offer expectation the file needs.
Related glossary entries
SBIR/STTR (Small Business Innovation Research)
SBIR and STTR are congressionally mandated programs requiring federal agencies with large R&D budgets to fund small business innovation through phased awards — feasibility (Phase I), development (Phase II), and commercialization (Phase III), which carries sole-source follow-on authority.
8(a) Business Development Program
The 8(a) Business Development Program, authorized by Section 8(a) of the Small Business Act, gives SBA-certified firms owned by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals a nine-year term of access to sole-source and competitive set-aside federal contracts under 13 CFR Part 124.
HUBZone Program
The HUBZone program, created by the HUBZone Act of 1997 and run by SBA, steers federal contracts to small businesses that keep their principal office in a historically underutilized business zone and draw at least 35 percent of employees from HUBZone residents.
Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB)
A service-disabled veteran-owned small business (SDVOSB) is a small business at least 51 percent owned and controlled by one or more service-disabled veterans and certified by SBA under 13 CFR Part 128, making it eligible for set-asides and sole-source awards government-wide.