Membership in the National 8(a) Association is open to all organizations, 8(a) and non-8(a) firms alike, regardless of affiliation, provided they are compliant with the requirements identified on the Membership Application.* There are two classes of Members; except for voting rights, all Members are entitled to receive all benefits offered by the Association.
Regular Membership Regular Members must be certified by the U.S. Small Business Administration for participation in SBA's 8(a) Business Development program, as evidenced in their SBA Profile at https://dsbs.sba.gov/dsbs
Regular Members have voting rights.
Associate Membership is open to all other organizations. Associate Members do not have voting rights.
* Association Membership is not available to organizations appearing on the Government's Excluded Parties List System (https://www.epls.gov/)
Member benefits . . .
Each of these benefits is either in place or planned for rollout during 2010:
• Teaming: The Association encourages partnerships that will benefit our members. By banding together, we can go after larger contracts that could not be attained by a single company. Working together will keep our businesses strong in our increasingly competitive economy.
Association-facilitated teaming opportunities – for both Regular and Associate Members – exist in many forms and venues, including
o Online
o Annual Summer National Conference — This pro-active conference brings together disadvantaged business owners through major corporations, as well as featuring in-depth discussions, seminars, business training, powerful networking, relationship-building networking/match making, workshops, with Government- and industry-leading speakers. The next National Conference will be held in Anchorage on June 22 and 23, 2010
o Business to Business Symposiums/Networking and Investment/Partnering events — Held periodically in major cities across the country, you'll have the opportunity to network with hand-picked, qualified companies with diverse backgrounds and capabilities to create strategic alliances, partnerships or teaming arrangements for federal and commercial contracts. Bring more corporate purchasing and Government contracting officers to you in formal and informal settings. Help 8(a) companies balance their 8(a) and non-8(a) business opportunities.
• Education: Key to every one of our conferences are the education and training sessions we offer. We have worked closely with universities – from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth to the University of Alaska; with the SBA and Small Business Development Centers and Procurement Technical Assistance Centers; and with well-known professional firms such as KPMG and Patton Boggs, LLP, to organize and deliver training sessions that benefit our members.
We strive to tailor topic and content of each education session to the needs expressed by our members. Topics have included strategic planning, finance/audit/compensation, joint ventures, subcontracting, teaming arrangements, mentor-protégé agreements, legislation, insurance and many more. This sharing of knowledge benefits us by providing expert advice and keeping us all up-to-date on the latest regulations and laws that affect each and every one of our businesses.
• Annual Business Meeting — Awards ceremony, guest speakers
• On-line directory of selected National 8(a) Association members, with direct links to your Point of Contact.
• A Classified section to provide members and others a "one-stop" shopping opportunity to access professional services providers who have specialized 8(a) expertise.
• Membership Certificate — Display it proudly so that all who visit your establishment will know that you are a quality business and that you have made an investment in the present and future of disadvantaged business.
• Ask the Executive Director: An informal blog for members' questions on any topic, for our professional staff to research if needed, and to publish responses online for members.
• BECOME A MEMBER
Did you know that although 8(a) companies represent fewer than 1½% of the 550,000 firms in the Central Contractor Registry, they account for 4%, or $21 Billion of federal Government awards (totaling some $530 Billion annually)? Source: FPDS for federal fiscal 2008, as reported by FedSources Market Intelligence Services www.fedsources.com
Did you know that as of December 2009 the Government estimates that in 2010 some 13,000 contractor jobs will be eliminated from the Pentagon alone, most replaced by federal positions?
Do you have everything you need to capture your share of federal business?