By Vija Xiong
Quite naturally on a team of majority men, I was volun-told to write the article for Women’s History Month. I am certain any of the men could have written a compelling article for the month, but I wanted the privilege to address the intersection of Women’s History and Government Contracting. The outlook is bleak. Even in 2024, the intersection of women and government contracting looks more like the 70s, you know when women couldn’t secure a credit card. Is all hope lost? Should women give up on government contracting? A resounding no. Our perception of breaking the glass ceiling is that it is done in one fell swoop. However, in reality, the glass ceiling breaks by little, tiny cracks over time. We must intertwine efforts with progress to see the ceiling come crashing down. The Government Contractors Association is here to move women-owned businesses forward in the government space. Read below on how to receive your free assessment to evaluate government contracting readiness. GCA will make changes in this generation.
First, my trailblazing grandmother, aunt, and mother are my women’s history. Upon my grandmother’s retirement, she chose to start a catering business. Accompanied by my aunt, they took Grand Rapids, MI by storm. Their efforts were recognized by both former Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald R. Ford. Had they known about government contracting, would their endeavors lead in a different direction? I can only speculate that they would have expanded their presence in the government space. My mother chose a different path of community service through Baxter Community Center and Eastown Community Center. She was instrumental in organizing art festivals and black history month celebrations, effecting change in the tapestry of businesses in East Town, and making the community safer. Her heart was for helping others. Having a giver’s heart sometimes, most times, generates a meager income but she was making a difference through meal programs, clothing programs, and the arts. Her hidden aspiration was poetry and acting. I can only recall her performance in Baxter Community Centers For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow Is Not Enuf by Ntozake Shange. Against all odds, she decided to participate in art without confirmation from those around her. Now, that you know a bit about my women’s history, let’s jump into a broader historical review of women’s history.
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When I am writing an article, we must go back to go forward. Translation, what is the history behind Women’s History Month? What is the history that compelled the recognition of Women’s History Month?
Who:
In February 1980, President Jimmy Carter issued a presidential proclamation declaring the week of March 8, 1980, as National Women’s History Week.[9] The proclamation stated, “From the first settlers who came to our shores, from the first American Indian families who befriended them, men and women have worked together to build this nation. Too often the women were unsung and sometimes their contributions went unnoticed. But the achievements, leadership, courage, strength, and love of the women who built America were as vital as that of the men whose names we know so well.
Going further back in our timeline:
In the United States, Women’s History Month traces its beginnings back to the first International Women’s Day in 1911. Laura X organized a march in Berkeley, California, on International Women’s Day in 1969; International Women’s Day had been largely forgotten in the United States before then.[4] The march led to the creation of The Women’s History Research Center, a central archive of the women’s movement from 1968 to 1974.[5] Laura X also thought it unfair for half the human race to have only one day a year and called for National Women’s History Month to be built around International Women’s Day.[6] The Women’s History Research Center collected nearly one million documents on microfilm, and provided resources and records of the Women’s liberation movement that are now available through the National Women’s History Alliance, which carried on their ideas, including successfully petitioning Congress to declare March as Women’s History Month.[7]
I realize that I have taken significant leaps from myself to Women’s History Week to Women’s History Month. This article would become volumes if I didn’t make certain choices about content. Right? With another hard pivot, we are going to leap into the intersection of women and government contracting.
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I believe we understand the foundation of Women’s History Month. But this is the Government Contractors Association, where is the intersection between Women’s History Month and government contracting?
According to an article from The 19th, economy reporter Chabeli Carrazana:
Nearly three decades ago, the Small Business Administration set a goal of granting 5 percent of federal contracts to women-owned small businesses. It has only met that goal twice, in 2015 and 2019, according to a new report from the Bipartisan Policy Center and Goldman Sachs.
At the local level, women- and men-owned small businesses were about equally likely to say they received a government contract, according to a survey conducted by the group this month. (Bipartisan Policy Center and Goldman Sachs) But the gender gap grew at the state and federal levels: The survey found a 13 percentage-point gap between men and women business owners who received contracts from state governments and a 15 percentage-point difference from those receiving contracts from the federal government. (No data was collected on nonbinary business owners.)
Before the benchmarks were implemented in the late 1980s, only 1 percent of federal procurement dollars went to women-owned small businesses.
Progress has been slow. In 1997, women-owned small businesses received 1.8 percent of federal contracts. In 2012, that figure hit 4 percent and has remained between 4 and 5 percent. In 2015, it hit 5.05 percent and in 2019 it hit 5.19 percent.
Rosemary Swierk, the president of Direct Steel and Construction in Illinois, a small business that builds low-rise non-residential buildings, said the way the program is set up disincentivizes woman-owned small businesses from applying.
For example, contracts that have a value under $250,000 are automatically set aside for women-owned small businesses if two or more such businesses bid for the contract. But it costs about the same — $20,000 to $40,000 for her business — to bid on a smaller project as it does a bigger project in the millions of dollars, Swierk said.
“Each project we go after, we throw that money out the window if we don’t get it. So where are we going to put that risk?” she said. (Advocates have pushed for raising the current ceiling to $500,000.)
According to the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Voices program survey, half of women owners who chose not to apply to federal contracts said it was because the process was too time consuming, 40 percent said it was too complicated and lacked sufficient information, and 38 percent said they felt small businesses weren’t prioritized so it was unlikely they would get a contract if they went through the motions of applying — a feeling Swierk echoes.
United States Small Business Administration: History of the WOSB Federal Contract Program
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Where do we go from here? We know where women and government contracting intersect but what do we do now?
According to Rieva Lesonsky, president and CEO of GrowBiz Media:
To help overcome these obstacles and level the playing field, the federal government has created and implemented policies and programs to help women access government contracts. Specifically, the Women-Owned Small Business Federal Contracting Program, one of several certification programs approved by Congress, was designed “to provide greater opportunities for [women-owned] small businesses to compete in the federal marketplace.”
The WOSB program was born in 1994 as part of the Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act (FASA), which created a 5% government-wide goal of contracting with women-owned small businesses.
What is WOSB Certification?
Overall, there are two types of certifications available to women-owned businesses:
1. Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB): This designation is used by federal government agencies looking for women-owned companies to do business with. Economically Disadvantaged Women-Owned Small Business (EDWOSB) is a subcategory of WOSBs.
2. Women’s Business Enterprise (WBE): This designation is used by private sector organizations and many state and local governments looking for women-owned companies to do business with.
To apply for certification, visit the SBA’s certification website and answer eligibility questions. Once deemed eligible, you will be guided to use the SBA to get certified or be given a list of the approved third-party certifiers. They are:
• National Women Business Owners Corporation
• U.S. Women’s Chamber of Commerce
• Women’s Business Enterprise National Council
• El Paso Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Contact them to learn about their certification processes and any associated costs of getting certified.
The Government Contractors Association was created to be hope in the bleak landscape. GCA supports women-owned businesses by providing certification help, a free 8a social disadvantage narrative template, and proposal assistance. In celebration of Women’s History Month, we are giving a 20-point assessment to help evaluate your business readiness for government contracting. Email Vija Xiong at vija@govcontractors.org GCA is here to support your government contracting goals by working to level the playing field. GCA will make changes for women-owned businesses now!
Thank you for the opportunity to celebrate Women’s History Month.