Procurement term
WOSB / EDWOSB (Women-Owned Small Business)
An SBA contracting program reserving certain US federal contracts for women-owned, and economically disadvantaged women-owned, small businesses.
What is WOSB?
The Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) Federal Contracting Program lets agencies set aside, or make sole-source awards of, certain contracts to firms that are at least 51% owned and controlled by one or more women who are US citizens, and that qualify as small under the assigned NAICS code. The Economically Disadvantaged Women-Owned Small Business (EDWOSB) designation is a subset with additional economic-disadvantage criteria. Both are administered by the Small Business Administration (SBA).
The program applies to designated industries where women-owned firms are underrepresented (WOSB) or substantially underrepresented (EDWOSB), identified by NAICS code. To use the set-aside, firms must be certified — through SBA certification or an approved third-party certifier — and meet the ownership, control, and size requirements. Misrepresenting eligibility carries serious legal consequences.
For vendors, WOSB/EDWOSB status is a competitive asset that opens set-aside and sole-source opportunities, but only within the designated NAICS codes and only with valid certification kept current. As with all socio-economic programs, the firm must still meet the small-business size standard for the specific NAICS code on each opportunity.
Example
A 51% woman-owned engineering firm, certified as a WOSB, bids a set-aside contract in a designated NAICS code where women-owned businesses are underrepresented.
Related terms
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