Small Business Federal Set-Aside Goals

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Set-Asides Goals

There are several items in place to assist small businesses in receiving contracts. This is done by creating set-asides for companies that are not large or other than small businesses.

The federal government also has its own set of goals that they strive to meet when contracting with small businesses. 24 separate agencies also have their own internal goals with the SBA on what they would like to reach for contracting with small businesses with most of them being equal to or around the federal government’s overall goal.

As of April 13, 2023, the current set-aside goals for the federal government are:

  • 23% of the total value of primary contract awards should go to small business concerns.
  • 5% of the total value of prime and subcontract awards should go to small disadvantaged businesses.
  • 5% of the total dollar value of prime and subcontract awards should go to Women-Owned Small Businesses.
  • 3% of the total dollar value of prime and subcontract awards should go to Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned small businesses.
  • 3% of the total dollar value of prime and subcontract awards should go to small businesses located within a Historically Underutilized Business Zone.

For most of these, the federal government has moved away from self-certification to streamline the process and ensure that the correct businesses receive this status.

You can self-certify within the System for Award Management (SAM), but it will only really be useful for general small businesses.


Socioeconomic Set-Asides

There are several different set-asides that a company can go for depending on their company’s makeup or location.

Most of the socioeconomic set-asides are based on the majority owner of the company. The normal set-asides that are looked into and their titles are:

  • Those owned and operated by socially and/or economically disadvantaged individuals,
  • Those owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans,
  • Those that qualify for HUBZone certification, or
  • Those owned and controlled by women

The SBA currently certifies all of these, but there are a few others that are certified or that can be certified by other agencies or are not listed here.


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