Policy Priorities
The Women’s Procurement Circle’s mission is to advocate for policies that strengthen women-owned companies doing business with the federal government.
Increase Awards to Women-Owned Businesses: The federal government has a goal of awarding 5% of all contract dollars to women-owned small businesses (WOSB). Although the women's procurement program was implemented in 2011, the government has only met this goal twice - many federal agencies simply do not utilize the program. According to the Small Business Administration (SBA), in FY2025, women-owned businesses were awarded 4.3% of all prime contracts or $27.4 billion. Increasing federal contracts to WOSBs results in creating a more dynamic and resilient industrial base, of which these firms are an important part. Therefore, the WOSB goal should be raised from 5% to 10%, with the overall small business goal increased accordingly. Congress, the SBA, federal agencies, and women-owned businesses must work together to increase contracts awarded through the women-owned small business federal contract program.
Expand Sole Source Contract Opportunities for Women-Owned Businesses: As government buying continues to move toward away from prime contracts to small companies to large contracts, the authority contained in the WOSB program to award sole source contracts is imperative. Congress should increase the threshold, which is currently $4.5/$7 million for the duration of the contract—an amount far too low to be used effectively. Additionally, creating parity among SBA socioeconomic contracting programs would incentivize agencies to increase their awards to women. Sole source authority is an important tool contracting officers can use to award work to WOSBs.
Maximize Women-Owned Business Awards on Governmentwide Contracts: Due to the growing popularity of category management, the government has begun to favor large, long-term contracts, in lieu of smaller, direct contracts. These long-term governmentwide contracts require substantial resources to bid and win task orders, creating a barrier to entry for many innovative small businesses to enter or remain competitive in the federal marketplace. The General Services Administration (GSA) has added a WOSB track to the Polaris contract, something women sought since the WOSB program began in 2011.
Eliminate Self-Certification in the Women-Owned Small Business Program: Eliminating self-certification for the WOSB program at the SBA and requiring self-certified women-owned companies to apply for certification through the SBA will increase the integrity of the program and assure federal buyers that these companies are ready to do business. We will continue to support legislative efforts to make this critical change to the WOSB program, such as H.R. 1816, the WOSB Accountability Act passed by the House. We urge the Senate to act on this important legislation.