Women-Owned Small Business certification is a federal designation that lets agencies set contracts aside specifically for your firm. If you are based in North Dakota and trying to break into federal contracting, this is one of the most practical certifications to pursue first.
Here is what you need to qualify, how to apply, and what work it actually opens up.
What WOSB certification is
The Women-Owned Small Business Federal Contracting Program is run by the Small Business Administration. It allows federal contracting officers to restrict competition on certain contracts to WOSB-certified firms. The goal is to close the gap in federal contracting dollars going to women-owned businesses, which have historically received far less than their proportional share.
There is a related designation called Economically Disadvantaged Women-Owned Small Business (EDWOSB). EDWOSB firms are eligible for a narrower set of set-asides but the pool of competing firms is smaller. More on that below.
Eligibility requirements
You must clear four main criteria:
51% ownership. One or more women must own at least 51% of the business. For corporations, that means women must hold at least 51% of each class of voting stock and the stock overall. Ownership has to be direct, not through another entity.
Day-to-day control. A woman must hold the highest officer position in the company (CEO, president, managing member) and manage its daily operations. The SBA will look at who actually runs the business, not just who is listed on paper.
Small business size standard. The revenue or employee cap depends on your primary NAICS code. For most industries, the cap is $30 million in average annual receipts over three years. Some NAICS codes use employee counts instead. Check your specific NAICS code against the SBA size standards table at sba.gov before applying.
U.S. citizenship. Each woman who owns and controls the business must be a U.S. citizen.
For EDWOSB status, there is an additional financial threshold. A woman's personal net worth must be under $850,000 (excluding her ownership interest in the business and equity in her primary residence), and her adjusted gross income averaged over three years must be under $400,000.
How to apply
The SBA moved to a self-certification model in 2020, replacing the prior third-party-only system. You now have two paths.
SBA self-certification at certify.sba.gov. Create an account on the SBA's certification portal and complete the application there. You will upload documents: operating agreement or bylaws, ownership records, a resume or biography showing management experience, and financial statements. The SBA reviews applications and can issue a formal certification. Self-certification does not require a fee.
Third-party certifiers. If you want third-party validation, four organizations are SBA-approved to certify WOSB status:
- Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC)
- National Women Business Owners Corporation (NWBOC)
- El Paso Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
- U.S. Women's Chamber of Commerce
Third-party certification typically costs $350 to $1,200 depending on the organization and your business size. The advantage is that these certifications also carry weight in the private sector. WBENC certification in particular is recognized by hundreds of Fortune 500 companies as evidence of women ownership, which opens corporate supplier diversity programs alongside federal work.
Once certified through a third party, you upload that certification to certify.sba.gov to be listed in the federal system.
What contracts it unlocks
WOSB and EDWOSB set-asides are authorized in 83 NAICS industry codes where the SBA has determined women-owned firms are underrepresented or substantially underrepresented in federal contracting. The list covers a wide range of industries: construction, professional services, IT, scientific research, transportation, and more.
For WOSB set-asides, the contract value must be under $4.5 million (or $7 million for manufacturing contracts). EDWOSB set-asides have the same thresholds. Contracting officers can also use sole-source awards to WOSB or EDWOSB firms under $4.5 million when conditions are met, which is significant: it means agencies can award you a contract without a competitive bid process.
Your WOSB certification also appears in SAM.gov, which is how agencies find certified firms. Keeping your SAM.gov registration current and accurate is not optional if you want to be found.
Federal contracting in North Dakota
North Dakota has a smaller federal footprint than many states, but the agencies active here matter for your NAICS codes.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District covers North Dakota and is a steady buyer for construction, environmental services, and engineering work. The Department of Veterans Affairs operates in the state through its Fargo VA Medical Center. The U.S. Air Force maintains a major presence through Minot Air Force Base, which handles significant procurement for base operations, facility maintenance, and support services. Grand Forks Air Force Base is another installation with active contracting activity.
The Department of Agriculture is one of the largest federal buyers in North Dakota given the state's agricultural economy. USDA agencies, including the Farm Service Agency and Natural Resources Conservation Service, procure professional services, IT, and administrative support across the state.
State, county, and tribal governments are not part of the WOSB federal set-aside program, but separate certifications cover those contracts (see below).
Free help: North Dakota PTAC at UND
The North Dakota Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC), housed at the University of North Dakota, provides free counseling to businesses pursuing government contracting. PTAC advisors can walk you through the certify.sba.gov application, help you identify which NAICS codes apply to your work, review your SAM.gov registration for errors, and connect you with active solicitations from state agencies and federal buyers.
This is the APEX Accelerator serving North Dakota. Using their services costs nothing. If you are new to federal contracting or working through the certification paperwork for the first time, schedule a session before you submit anything. Application mistakes can delay your certification by months.
State-level certifications that complement WOSB
North Dakota does not have a state-run Women-Owned Business certification equivalent to the federal WOSB program. The state procurement system does not maintain its own women-owned or minority-owned certification registry in the way that states like California or New York do.
For state and local contracts, the relevant certification is Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE). DBE is federally mandated for transportation contracts and administered through the North Dakota Department of Transportation. If you want work on NDDOT highway, bridge, or transit projects, DBE certification is the credential to pursue. DBE eligibility requires that the owner's personal net worth be under $2.047 million, with additional personal net income caps.
For tribal government contracts, individual tribal nations have their own procurement preferences and vendor registration systems. There is no single statewide registry that covers all tribal procurement.
If you hold WBENC certification as your third-party WOSB certification, that credential also opens corporate supplier diversity programs with companies operating in North Dakota, including Xcel Energy, Microsoft (which has a data center presence in the state), and agricultural firms with supplier diversity initiatives.
Estimated timeline
Once you have your documents in order, the SBA self-certification process at certify.sba.gov typically takes 90 days from application submission to a decision. Third-party certification through WBENC runs 30 to 60 days after you submit a complete application, and that timeline can stretch if your documentation has gaps.
Build in extra time for SAM.gov registration or renewal: a new SAM registration can take 10 business days to activate, and you must be active in SAM before you can bid on federal contracts.
A realistic timeline from starting your paperwork to being fully certified and SAM-active is four to five months if you move steadily. Contact the North Dakota PTAC at UND early in that process. They can shorten your prep time by catching issues before you submit, not after.
