Despite various impacts to SBA’s 8(a) Business Development Program–both quite recently and over the last couple years (which you can read about here and here, and even listened to me talk about here)–this “golden child” of SBA’s socioeconomic programs remains alive and well. And it is still one of the most lucrative and sought after SBA certifications out there. So, eligible contractors may be quite happy to hear, even during this most recent government shutdown, the 8(a) application portal remains up and running. In fact, given the current “pause” to other government contracting functions and filing portals, there may never be a better time than right now to work on those 8(a) applications. That said, anecdotally, we at SmallGovCon have been hearing from some 8(a) applicants about recent updates to the 8(a) application process and submission portal that we want to share with our readers via this two part blog. This second installment covers some general (again, anecdotal) application decision timeline updates (and you can read Part 1, about the new application countdown time, here).
As we noted in Part I of this two-part blog, it is a bit ironic that the first anecdotal update we blogged on regards a new 8(a) application countdown timer–making it so 8(a) applicants will no longer be able to delay submission of application documents once they start their applications (the subject of Part I of this blog). Yet the second 2025 8(a) anecdotal update we have for you (the subject of the instant blog) regards some fairly persistent delays in SBA’s final application decisions, despite its long-standing regulatory 90-day final decision timeframe.
Indeed, we have been hearing anecdotally–yet pretty consistently across the board–from applicants who have not received SBA’s final decisions on their completed 8(a) applications within the regulatory-promised 90-day timeframe. We’ve even heard from some that the 8(a) office may be (or have been) experiencing some issues with short staffing of application reviewers.
Interestingly, SBA’s own 8(a) Business Development Program website and standing 8(a) regulations still assure the public that SBA will process and render a decision on any complete 8(a) application within 90 days. Indeed, SBA’s own 8(a) Program website still states the following:
Once SBA has determined the application is complete, SBA has 90 days to process the application and render a decision. Once certified, your profile in SAM and the Small Business Search (SBS, formerly the Dynamic Small Business Search) will show your approval date and exit date for the 8(a) program.
And SBA’s current 8(a) Program regulations still state the following:
SBA will process an application for 8(a) BD program participation within 90 days of receipt of an application package deemed complete by the DPCE. Incomplete packages will not be processed. Where during its screening or review SBA requests clarifying, revised or other information from the applicant, SBA’s processing time for the application will be suspended pending the receipt of such information.
Now, it is important to note the emphasis on the timeline applying to “complete” applications only, in both SBA’s website and regulations. This is because, the 90-day timeframe only kicks in once the SBA has told the applicant that its 8(a) application has been deemed complete and awaiting final review (which typically comes after a few back and forth communications with SBA to get it there).
But even then, it is becoming increasingly clear that this 90-day timeframe may just not be doable for SBA in this day and age. So, even though SBA’s website and regulations still contain this regulatory timeframe, we merely want our readers and all 8(a) applicants to be aware of the generally trending delays in that timeframe. Hopefully, knowing this will at least help to reduce applicants’ tendency to want to panic when they don’t get word back from SBA by the time the 90-day clock has run.
Indeed, it may just be time for a regulatory update to officially address the current trends. I will say, this isn’t the first time in the last few years that SBA’s 8(a) practices have not aligned with the standing 8(a) regulations. I am sure most of us at this point are familiar with the Ultima case and how it changed SBA’s rules for social disadvantage back in 2023–despite the 8(a) social disadvantage regulations to this day reflecting the old rules and now-prohibited presumption of social disadvantage (outside of a DoD FAR deviation). But at least for that one, it is quite easy to find SBA’s new rules, guidance, and policies online and via the application platform and procedures.
Here, all of the existing SBA guidance and rules still consistently reference this 90-day clock for a final 8(a) application decision. And thus, when applicants (again, seemingly very consistently) continue to see no final decision within that timeframe, they are left with an awful lot of questions. Is SBA generally short-staffed right now? Is SBA’s 8(a) office short staffed? If so, at what point in the review process can applicants generally expect delays? And if so, what is being done to fix the shortage? Are there certain types of applications being processed more quickly than others (i.e., Tribal versus individual owned applicants)? And finally, are these delays at all related to the recent 8(a) Program contracts audit?
I don’t have answers to these questions for you, unfortunately. But I am hoping that at least some 8(a) applicants awaiting final decisions beyond the 90-day period may read this and at least know they are not alone (or being singled out by SBA in any way). And of course, we are not privy to any internal information in regard to whether any possible short staffing could be related to any SBA representatives currently being tied up facilitating the 8(a) audits. But such is a possibility, of course.
In the end, a regulatory update is likely going to be needed–unless SBA instead finds another way to put an end to these increasingly common 8(a) application processing delays. But as regulatory updates can take a long time to implement, in the meantime, maybe SBA could issue a statement or update notifying the industry of its current timeline trends and timeframe expectations for 8(a) application processing. As even that would likely assure a lot of worried applicants that they are not alone.
Finally, I do want to end on a positive note here–as we have seen a variety of different “attacks” on the 8(a) Program in recent years; and many have questioned the very fate of the 8(a) Program in this seemingly volatile current climate. I just want to remind our readers that the 8(a) Program is a creature of statute–and therefore, requires an act of Congress to be terminated, indefinitely suspended, or defunded. Further, it was not too long ago that Ultima hit the SBA 8(a) Program office with a massive influx of social disadvantage narratives requiring review. And SBA did a pretty solid job of handling that one, dramatically increasing the number of representatives reviewing narratives not too long after the Court Order was issued.
So, even though we want to validate the concerns of those currently awaiting 8(a) application decisions, those in the process of applying, and even those looking to apply in the near future. We also want to remind our readers that SBA’s 8(a) Program office: (1) has already (fairly recently) successfully demonstrated its ability to accommodate political and judicial impacts; and (2) continues to exist under statute, which only Congress can change. Thus, we are cautiously optimistic that the 8(a) Program takes in stride and moves on in due time from any current delays, issues with short-staffing, contract audits, etc. Make sure you keep an eye out for future blogs on the topic, as we will (of course) update you with any updates we can get!
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