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 State Designations:

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.

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.

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.

Service Disabled Veterans

Veterans who are small business owners can obtain Service-Disabled Veteran-owned (SDV) status in the SWaM vendor database. This is not a separate certification, but a designation of businesses owned by Service-Disabled Veterans who are certified as such by the Virginia Department of Veteran Services (DVS). Veterans can apply for small, women-owned or minority-owned certification with the Virginia Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity before or after obtaining an eligibility certificate from DVS. Both services are available at no charge.

Veterans wishing to apply for Service-Disabled Veteran status must first seek eligibility certification from the Department of Veteran Services by calling (804) 786-0286 or visiting the DVS website.

Military Family

A business that is at least 51 percent owned by one or more persons within the definition of “military family” (MIL), in the case of a corporation, partnership, or limited liability company or other entity, in which 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 individuals who are persons within the definition of “military family” and both the management and daily business operations are controlled by one or more individuals who are persons within the definition of “military family”.

Employment Services Organization

“Employment services organization” (ESO) means an organization that provides community-based employment services to individuals with disabilities that is an approved Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) accredited vendor of the Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services.

Learn more about how to apply for ESO Certification.

Federal Designations Acknowledged Under Your SWaM Profile:

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 document below:

Application Portal Instructions

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

Applying for Certification / Making Changes to Your Certification:

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

You may report material changes to your certification application by submitting:
- SWaM Notice of Change form
You can report contact information changes to your certification application by submitting:
- Contact Information Change Request Form

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). EXCEPTION: If you apply via the DBE interstate process, then the DBE certification process does NOT supersede the SWaM certification process. DBE interstate process applications that apply for SWaM certification are required to submit all of the SWaM required documents on the SWaM upload page.

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.

SWaM Information and Regulations

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