SWaM Certification

Small, Women-owned, and Minority-owned Business (SWaM)

The Small, Women-owned, and Minority-owned Business (SWaM) certification program is a state program of the Commonwealth of Virginia, whose purpose is to enhance procurement opportunities for SWaM businesses participating in state-funded projects.

The time until the initial review for both SWaM initial applications and for recertifications is approximately 60 business days from the time that we received a completed SWaM application AND the required supporting documents.

Important Notices:

If you are a non-Virginia based business, you might not be eligible for participation in the Virginia Small, Women- and Minority-owned Business Program. Please review the “SBSD Certification Policy of Applications from Non-Virginia Based Businesses” before applying online for SWaM certification or recertification by clicking here.
Non-Profits are not eligible for SWaM certification with the exception of Employment Services Organizations (ESO).

SBSD Certifies the following Designations:

Micro

As a certified Small Business by the Department, your company might qualify to be a “Micro Business”. Micro Business is a certified Small Business under the SWaM Program and has no more than twenty-five (25) employees AND no more than $3 million in average annual revenue over the three-year period prior to their certification.

Woman-Owned

“Women-owned business” means a business that is at least 51% owned by one or more women who are U.S. citizens or legal resident aliens, or in the case of a corporation, partnership, or limited liability company or other entity, at least 51% of the equity ownership interest is owned by one or more women who are citizens of the United States or legal resident aliens, and both the management and daily business operations are controlled by one or more women.

Small

“Small business” means a business that is at least 51% independently owned and controlled by one or more individuals who are U.S. citizens or legal resident aliens, and together with affiliates, has 250 or fewer employees, or average annual gross receipts of $10 million or less averaged over the previous three years. One or more of these individual owners shall control both the management and daily business operations of the small business.

Minority-Owned

“Minority-owned business” means a business that is at least 51 percent owned by one or more minority individuals who are U.S. citizens or legal resident aliens, or in the case of a corporation, partnership, or limited liability company or other entity, at least 51 percent of the equity ownership interest in the corporation, partnership, or limited liability company or other entity is owned by one or more minority individuals who are U.S. citizens or legal resident aliens, and both the management and daily business operations are controlled by one or more minority individuals, or any historically black college or university, regardless of the percentage ownership by minority individuals or, in the case of a corporation, partnership, or limited liability company or other entity, the equity ownership interest in the corporation, partnership, or limited liability company or other entity.

8a-is a SBA federal certification If a firm provides documentation that they are certified as such SBSD will add the designation to your company’s profile. Please provide your SBA 8a approval letter.

EDWOSB-stands for economically disadvantaged woman owned small business. This is a federal certification that is verified by the SBA . If a firm provides documentation that they are certified as such SBSD will add the designation to your company’s profile. Please provide your SBA EDWOSB approval letter.

WOSB– stands for woman owned small business. This is a federal certification that is verified by the SBA . If a firm provides documentation that they are certified as such SBSD will add the designation to your company’s profile. Please provide your SBA WOSB approval letter.

FSDV-stands for federal service-disabled veteran. This is a federal certification verified by the Dept. of Veterans Affairs. If a firm provides documentation that they are certified as such SBSD will add the designation to your company’s profile. Please provide your SBA FSDV approval letter.

For Help Regarding the Application Portal, see the Instructions .pdf below:

Application Portal Instructions

You do NOT need to read through the entire .pdf as many sections may not be applicable to you. Clicking on a section in the Table of Contents in the .pdf will take you directly to whichever relevant section you need. Here are some relevant headings:

Launch of the Application Portal
Old Application System vs. Application Portal
Registering and Logging into the Application Portal
I Need to Start the SWaM/DBE Application or Recertification Process for an Application that is Not Already in My Application Queue
Respond to a Document Request that Asks You to Upload the Requested Document
Applying for SWaM Certification
Applying for SWaM Recertification

IMPORTANT: If you are certified as a DBE in Virginia by SBSD, you DO NOT use the SWaM process or required documents list on this page. The DBE certification process supersedes the SWaM certification process and you only need to submit DBE documents, with the addition of 941s, if applicable and/or the Virginia Department of Veteran Services Service-Disabled Veteran approval letter for owners making up at least 51% ownership and the persons who control the firm, if different than the majority owner(s).

You MUST keep your DBE certification up to date by submitting the DBE Annual submission documents found on the DBE page on time every year, prior to the anniversary date of your DBE/ACDBE certification, in order to ensure that your SWaM certification does not lapse.

Conversely, if you applied for DBE/ACDBE certification in the past and did not complete the process or were not approved, but are not applying or reapplying for it currently, you MUST deselect DBE and/or ACDBE in the application. If you do not, the application will be submitted as a DBE/ACDBE application instead of a SWaM application, which has different requirements than SWaM and will thus result in delays to your SWaM application, since it will need to be resubmitted.

Gather and scan to your computer all of the required documents that you will need for your application as individual files. The list is found below:
- Required Documents for all SWaM Application Types
Click on the link below to go to the Application Portal:
- Certification Application

Request an Additional SWaM Type or Make Changes to Your Application:

If you have applied for certification or recertification via the new Application Portal, and have therefore uploaded all of the Required Documents to the new system:

Then you may request new SWaM Types or Make Changes to your application by editing your application:

Click the edit icon (pencil) on the green side of your business’ application in your Application Queue
Select all of the Certification Types that you are applying for, or make changes to the application information and click Save
Enter an update reason in the box that pops up (i.e., apply for additional SWaM Type, change contact information, change ownership information, etc.), Submit, then the Next button
If any documents are needed on the Required Documents Upload page based on your change, upload each of the required documents and click Next
Click Submit or Resubmit on the SWaM Affidavit page

If you have not applied for certification or recertification via the new Application Portal, and have therefore not uploaded all of the Required Documents to the new system:

At this time, you cannot make your request for new SWaM Types or make changes to your application via the new Application Portal, as it will require you to upload all required documents as if you were applying for certification or recertification.

Request Micro Business Certification
- If your company is currently certified as a small business under the SWaM program, please visit https://certification-app.sbsd.virginia.gov to complete the Micro application process. If your company is not currently certified as a small business under the SWaM program or if your company’s small business certification will be expiring within the next 60 days, you must apply for SWaM certification/recertification and choose Micro as one of the designations.
You must request new SWaM Types (other than Micro) by submitting:
- Request for Additional Certified SWaM Type form
- The form, along with any relevant supporting documents, may be mailed, faxed, or emailed. If emailing, please send to sbsd@sbsd.virginia.gov
You must request changes to be made to your application by submitting:
- SWaM Notice of Change form
You can request information changes to be made to your application by submitting:
- Contact Information Change Request Form

SWaM Information and Regulations

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