2/9/22
The General Services Administration (GSA) has announced the second cohort of awardees for the fourth-generation 8(a) Streamlined Technology Acquisition Resource for Services, aka STARS III GWAC. The GSA revealed on February 7, 2022, that a total of 557 underserved and disadvantaged businesses were selected for this cohort. This follows the initial cohort of 426 businesses awarded in June of 2021.
The STARS III solicitation’s purpose is acquiring IT services and solutions from 8(a) small businesses. This includes emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, blockchain and robotic process automation. It entered the Sources Sought stage on August 9, 2020. Thereafter, the contract has expanded beyond the initial draft to a $50-billion ceiling and up to 15 years in length.
The Small Business Association (SBA) has established that 8(a) businesses must be at minimum 51% owned and operated by U.S. citizens who are both socially and economically disadvantaged and have a individual net worth of less than $750,000, adjusted gross income of less than $350,000 and assets totaling less than $6 million.
The STARS GWACs leverage a long-standing collaboration with the Small Business Administration (SBA) to assist in the development of 8(a) businesses and offer federal agencies a means to deliver important IT services by working with small, disadvantaged businesses. STARS III will drive progress on key public policy objectives including the President’s Executive Order 13985 On Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government.
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Over $20 billion has been awarded through the GSA’s 8(a) GWACs as of this writing. You will see the current top awardees for STARS III below: