Very Small Business Pilot Program

The purpose of the Very Small Business (VSB) Pilot Program is to improve access to government contract opportunities for "very small business concerns" by reserving certain acquisitions for competition among such concerns. (Unless this currently expired initiative is extended by Congress, VSB contracts under this program must have been awarded before September 30, 2006.)

A "very small business concern" is defined as a business that has no more than 15 employees and average annual receipts of less than $1 million and that has headquarters located within one of the following ten designated SBA districts:

• Albuquerque, NM (serving New Mexico)
• Los Angeles, CA (serving the following counties in California: Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, and Ventura)
• Boston, MA (serving Massachusetts)
• Louisville, KY (serving Kentucky)
• Columbus, OH (serving the following counties in Ohio: Adams, Allen, Ashland, Athens, Auglaize, Belmont, Brown, Butler, Champaign, Clark, Clermont, Clinton, Coshocton, Crawford, Darke, Delaware, Fairfield, Fayette, Franklin, Gallia, Greene, Guernsey, Hamilton, Hancock, Hardin, Highland, Hocking, Holmes, Jackson, Knox, Lawrence, Licking, Logan, Madison, Marion, Meigs, Mercer, Miami, Monroe, Montgomery, Morgan, Morrow, Muskingum, Noble, Paulding, Perry, Pickaway, Pike, Preble, Putnam, Richland, Ross, Scioto, Shelby, Union, Van Wert, Vinton, Warren, Washington, and Wyandot)
• New Orleans, LA (serving Louisiana)
• Detroit, MI (serving Michigan)
• Philadelphia, PA (serving the State of Delaware and the following counties in Pennsylvania: Adams, Berks, Bradford, Bucks, Carbon, Chester, Clinton, Columbia, Cumberland, Dauphin, Delaware, Franklin, Fulton, Huntington, Juniata, Lackawanna, Lancaster, Lebanon, Lehigh, Luzern, Lyocming, Mifflin, Monroe, Montgomery, Montour, Northampton, Northumberland, Philadelphia, Perry, Pike, Potter, Schuylkill, Snyder, Sullivan, Susquehanna, Tioga, Union, Wayne, Wyoming, and York)
• El Paso, TX (serving the following counties in Texas: Brewster, Culberson, El Paso, Hudspeth, Jeff Davis, Pecos, Presidio, Reeves, and Terrell)
• Santa Ana, CA (serving the following counties in California: Orange, Riverside, and San Bernadino)

Under the VSB program, a Contracting Officer must set aside for very small business concerns any acquisition that has an anticipated value exceeding $2,500 but not greater than $50,000 if there is a reasonable expectation of obtaining offers from two or more responsible very small business concerns that are competitive in terms of market prices, quality, and delivery. In addition, the businesses must be headquartered within the geographical area served by the designated SBA district.

If only one acceptable offer is received from a responsible very small business concern in response to a very small business set-aside, the Contracting Officer is required to make an award to that firm. If no acceptable offers are received from responsible very small business concerns, the Contracting Officer is authorized to cancel the "very small business set-aside" and proceed with the acquisition as a "small business set-aside."

The VSB program does not apply to contracts awarded pursuant to the 8(a) Program, which pertains to small disadvantaged business concerns (see below). It also does not apply to any government purchase requirement that is subject to the Small Business Competitiveness Demonstration Program.