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A common misconception about woman-owned status is that in order to qualify, a business just needs to have at least one woman owner. In order to qualify, a business must have at least 51% woman ownership. As such, much like with other set-asides, they frequently cannot be combined with other set-asides unless such set-asides apply to that 51% owner (so, for example, two business partners -- one who is a woman and one who is a veteran -- cannot gain both woman-owned and veteran-owned status). In order to avoid fraud, the woman principle must also be shown to consistently run the operations of the business; placing a wife or daughter as the business owner solely on paper is not permitted and can result in penalties.
In addition to ownership status, woman-owned set-asides typically only apply to certain industries/NAICS codes. For a list of the NAICS codes that are eligible for woman-owned set-asides, you can click here.
As hinted at above, there is also a set-aside known as economically disadvantaged women-owned small businesses (EDWOSB). Along with the above requirements, to qualify for EDWOSB status, the business must be owned and controlled by one or more women, each with a personal net worth less than $750,000. It also must e owned and controlled by one or more women, each whose average adjusted gross income for three years is $350,000 or less. Finally, the business must have $6 million or less in business assets. Eligible NAICS codes for the EDWOSB status can be found by clicking here.
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