- Details
- By Brian Edwards
- Native Contracting
The Small Business Administration confirmed Thursday it suspended more than 1,000 contractors from the 8(a) Business Development Program in January, a cornerstone of federal contracting for many Native-owned enterprises. The agency said the action followed firms’ failure to submit required records during a program-wide audit.
The suspensions represent about one-quarter of the roughly 4,300 companies participating in the 8(a) program, which provides contracting assistance to small businesses designated as socially and economically disadvantaged, including tribally owned enterprises, Alaska Native corporations and Native Hawaiian organizations.
In December 2025, SBA ordered all active 8(a) participants to submit three years of financial and operational records by Jan. 5, 2026 as part of the audit. That deadline was later extended to Jan. 19.
The agency has not released a list of suspended firms or disclosed the dates individual suspensions were imposed, and federal procurement systems do not indicate the timing or cause of individual actions.
Contracting data reviewed Saturday by Tribal Business News showed 1,135 companies currently listed as suspended across federal procurement systems, though the data does not specify whether the listings stem from the December audit, earlier enforcement actions or other administrative issues.
Within that total, the data includes about 212 suspension records tied to about 201 unique businesses that self-identify as Native-owned or Native-affiliated. Among those firms, 195 are American Indian enterprises, including tribally owned companies, Indian Economic Enterprises and Indian Small Businesses. The data also shows six Alaska Native Corporation-owned firms and 11 Native Hawaiian Organization-owned firms listed as suspended. Some firms appear more than once due to multiple unique entity identifiers.
SBA did not provide a demographic breakdown of the suspended firms.
A suspension under the 8(a) program does not terminate a company’s existing federal contracts or bar it from federal contracting outside the program. Suspended firms may continue performing existing 8(a) contracts, and federal agencies may exercise contract options unless otherwise prohibited by law or regulation. Suspended firms are not eligible to receive new 8(a) sole-source or set-aside awards while the suspension remains in effect.
“Suspended firms have 45 days to appeal the suspension,” SBA spokesperson Maggie Clemmons told Federal News Network. The agency said it plans to release additional information on the suspensions.
The suspensions come amid heightened scrutiny of the 8(a) program from Congress and multiple federal agencies, including Treasury and the Department of Defense. In December, SBA extended the audit deadline to Jan. 19 after issuing clarifying guidance in response to concerns from contractors about fiscal year reporting, contract disclosure and documentation requirements, according to prior Tribal Business News reporting.
Native-owned enterprises play a central role in the 8(a) program. According to data provided to Tribal Business News by market intelligence firm HigherGov, Native entities received $16.1 billion in 8(a) contract awards in fiscal 2024, including $14.9 billion in sole-source awards, accounting for nearly two-thirds of total program spending.
