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Thompson Hine LLP, a full-service business law firm with approximately 400 lawyers in 8 offices, was ranked number 1 in the category “Most innovative North American law firms: New working models” by The Financial Times and was 1 of 7 firms shortlisted for The American Lawyer’s inaugural Legal Services Innovation Award. The firm has been recognized by the National Law Journal as a Legal Technology Trailblazer and featured by Bloomberg for its innovative service delivery models, which drive accuracy and predictability. The firm’s commitment to innovation is embodied in Thompson Hine SmartPaTHTM – a smarter way to work – predictable, efficient and aligned with client goals. For more information, please visit ThompsonHine.com and ThompsonHine.com/SmartPaTH.

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SBA’s new application portal, MySBA Certifications, is now live.

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MySBA Certifications unifies the certification application process for all SBA socioeconomic programs.

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Earlier this year, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announced that it would close its certification application portal to make some updates. During this time, SBA did not accept initial certification applications and encouraged new and prospective applicants to wait until the upgrade was completed before applying. The portal closure impacted the certification processes for the following SBA socioeconomic programs:

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Economically Disadvantaged Women-Owned Small Business

Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business

Historically Underutilized Business Zones (HUBZone)

The upgraded SBA certification portal, MySBA Certifications, is now live. It streamlines the certification process for SBA federal contracting programs. Before the update, applicants were required to navigate different platforms, depending on the certification type sought. MySBA Certifications is a uniform system that allows applicants to submit a single application to assess eligibility for multiple SBA certifications. Ideally, SBA’s consolidation of its certification applications will make the process more efficient for small businesses and accelerate the certification timeline, though it remains to be seen what, if any, unintended consequences or new challenges arise in relation to the upgraded interface. As with any new system, there may be bugs to work out. A few of our clients have already reported hiccups that, in some cases, required applicants to start over at the beginning of the application process.

In its consolidation efforts, SBA made some changes to the application itself. SBA 8(a) program prospective applicants should be aware of a notable change in the application interface. The 8(a) program requires applicants to demonstrate that they are socially disadvantaged, which was previously established by either a rebuttable presumption for individuals who held themselves out as members of a designated ethnic group or by submission of a social disadvantage narrative for individuals who were not members of the designated groups. SBA no longer uses the rebuttable presumption to establish social disadvantage due to a rulingissued by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee barring its use.

The upgraded application permits applicants to establish their social disadvantage by completing a fillable text questionnaire that confines applicants’ responses to 1,000 characters. SBA notes that more information may be requested. Applicants who need more space to elaborate on information relevant to their social disadvantage status still have the option to write and submit a narrative. SBA advises that three pages is generally sufficient; however, the narrative can be shorter or longer. It is unclear how or if electing to use the fillable questionnaire will impact certification approval. It is evident that SBA deems 1,000 characters per question sufficient space to establish social disadvantage. However, prospective applicants should consider whether the questionnaire provides adequate space to establish SBA’s required elements of social disadvantage: an indication of which identity or identities is/are the basis of social disadvantage and a description of incidents in which bias or discrimination has occurred. To ensure that SBA has all the information needed to properly assess a certification application and limit potential delays triggered by SBA requests for additional information, applicants should choose the option that allows them to establish the elements of social disadvantage thoroughly and fully.

In addition to the resources and guidance provided on the MySBA Certifications portal, our Government Contracts practice is fully equipped to assist prospective applicants as they navigate the changes in the certification process and work to prepare social disadvantage statements under the new system.

Our Government Contracts practice group recently published a series of bulletins examining SBA’s proposed rule, “HUBZone Program Updates and Clarifications, and Clarifications to Other Small Business Programs.” SBA issued its final rule on December 17, 2024, and we will continue the series with alerts detailing our assessment of the final rule to keep you informed about other pertinent updates related to SBA’s socioeconomic programs.

This advisory bulletin may be reproduced, in whole or in part, with the prior permission of Thompson Hine LLP and acknowledgment of its source and copyright. This publication is intended to inform clients about legal matters of current interest. It is not intended as legal advice. Readers should not act upon the information contained in it without professional counsel.

This document may be considered attorney advertising in some jurisdictions.

https://admin.thompsonhine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Government-Contracts-Update-New-SBA-Application-Portal.pdf

New SBA Application Portal: What To Expect

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