Administrator Isabel Casillas Guzman of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announced a record number of federal contracting certifications for fiscal year 2024. The SBA certified over 17,000 small businesses, marking a nearly 40% increase from the previous year across various certification programs including those for women, veterans, socially and economically disadvantaged businesses, and HUBZones.

Guzman also introduced the new MySBA Certifications online platform, which is now live and accepting applications. This initiative aims to streamline the certification process for entrepreneurs by allowing them to apply for multiple certifications with a single application.

“Under the Biden-Harris Administration, the SBA has taken bold action to ensure that more small businesses than ever before can compete for and win valuable government contracts,” said Administrator Guzman. She emphasized that beyond certifying more firms, there is an intention to provide these firms with more contract opportunities through a proposed rule aimed at increasing small business participation in government contracting.

The proposed rule titled "Small Business Contracting: Increasing Small Business Participation on Multiple Awards" seeks to expand the 'Rule of Two' to multiple-award contracts. Currently, this rule mandates setting aside contracts for small businesses if two or more are expected to submit offers at reasonable prices. Applying this rule to multiple award contracts could potentially boost contracting with small businesses by up to $6 billion annually.

During the Biden-Harris Administration, the SBA has consistently surpassed its government-wide contracting goals. In FY24 alone, over 28% of prime contracts were awarded to small firms—a notable increase from previous years.

President Biden's Investing in America Agenda continues supporting high levels of federal contracts awarded particularly to veteran-owned and traditionally disadvantaged businesses. The introduction of MySBA Certifications is expected to further increase certifications due to improvements in customer experience.

Interested parties have a 60-day period during which they can comment on the proposed expansion of the 'Rule of Two'. Comments can be submitted via regulations.gov and will be reviewed before finalizing the rule.

For additional information regarding this proposal or other inquiries related to procurement policy, Donna Fudge from SBA’s Office of Policy Planning and Liaison is available at donna.fudge@sba.gov.