The Small Business Administration is extending through Sept. 30, 2025, its moratorium on the 8(a) Business Development Program Bona Fide Place of Business requirement for small disadvantaged businesses, or SDBs.
Enacted in 2021, the moratorium makes it possible for 8(a) Program participants to receive construction contracts even without having a bona fide place of business in a given geographic location, the SBA said Tuesday.
The moratorium was put into effect in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which necessitated remote work arrangements. A prior extension had set the moratorium to be lifted by Sept. 30 this year.
The SBA is extending the moratorium due to feedback from 8(a) construction firms, which indicated increasing difficulty in the recruitment and retention of office-based workers resulting from shortages in the workforce, cultural shifts and people now preferring remote work.
Commenting on the extension, SBA Administrator Isabel Casillas Guzman said the government acknowledges “that small businesses continue to pivot and adapt to changing workforce trends in the marketplace” and that “extending the moratorium on the Bona Fide Place of Business requirement will enable SDBs to continue focusing on expanding their business and capturing more revenue.”