Women Owned Small Business Program | SmallGovCon - Government Contracts Law Blog

Back in the ’80s, I spent many a weekday afternoon watching The Transformers (the cheesy original cartoons, not the abysmal movies that followed much more recently). The tagline of the show, which was about a bunch of robots that can transform into vehicles, was “more than meets the eye.”

“More than meets the eye” is also a good way to think about the requirements for the still relatively young women-owned small business program. Google the phrase “women-owned small business program requirements” and you’ll come up with any number of articles stating that a viable women-owned small business must be “at least 51% unconditionally owned and controlled” by women.

While this is certainly true, these articles rarely explain exactly what the SBA has in mind when it comes to “unconditional” ownership and control. Under the WOSB regulations, the truth, especially on the “control” front, may surprise you.

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My daughter is learning to take her first steps, while holding onto the furniture. Yesterday, she started pushing her stroller around the living room, essentially using it as a walker. My wife and I looked at each other and said something like, “things are about to get really interesting around here.”

Things are also about to get interesting when it comes to the women-owned small business program, and its subset, the economically disadvantaged women-owned small business program. Ever since the WOSB program formally came into being last year, I’ve been saying that it was only a matter of time before WOSBs and EDWOSBs started protesting one another’s eligibility for WOSB and EDWOSB set-aside procurements.

Now, the SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals has ruled on its first WOSB appeal. What happened? Well, for one, all WOSBs should make sure their facsimile machines are in good working order before submitting another bid.

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