- Taelor Salmon, 32, is CEO of a public company called TJS Group.
- She said about 50 percent of her contracts came from funds set aside for socially disadvantaged businesses.
- She’s not sure what impact DOGE will have on small business marketplaces, but she’s preparing for the change.
This essay as told is based on a conversation with Taelor Salmon, 32, CEO of TJS Group. His employment and identity have been verified by Business Insider. This story has been edited for length and clarity.
I am the CEO of TJS Group and we are in business providing government services for about nine years now.
We have approximately 19 employees and provide everything from IT security to facility maintenance and repair assistance. But our main focus is administrative support and facilities.
Our success is not about the president at this point. It correlates with regulations projected by the Small Business Administration, including in programs such as the 8(a) Business Development Program and economically disadvantaged women-owned small business certifications.
The 8(a) Business Development Program was created to award at least 5 percent of all annual federal contracting dollars to small, disadvantaged businesses. The 8(a) program can establish that you or your business is socially and economically disadvantaged. We received ours in November 2021, and it’s a nine-year program that you apply for through the SBA. It has many requirements and I have already been rejected three times.
We got our first contract circa 2017, when Trump was president. We did well under Trump, but better under Biden simply because TJS Group received its 8(a) certification under him. Although this could have happened under Trump, the program has helped us tremendously.
My biggest concern is that DOGE, or SBA, wants to remove 8(a) and minority business funding. My business has benefited significantly from these “set aside markets” over the past 3 years. Losing Reserve 8a would be scary because so much of the value of our contract comes from it to our small business.
SBA program funding represents a large portion of our revenue
THE SBA’s job is to support and help small businesses. SBA initiatives require Congress to dedicate a certain amount of taxpayer money to different types of small businesses. Some of these initiatives are aimed at minority-, women-, or veteran-owned businesses. It’s the government’s way of ensuring that taxpayers’ money is put back into the economy fairly and doesn’t just go to the big powers.
Approximately 50% of our revenue comes from 8(a) Program Rewards.
8(a) certification is great because you can get directly awarded contracts without competition. Some people love it, some people hate it, some people think it’s unfair. But again, these programs are aimed at helping small businesses get established. Initially, these programs, or set-asides like 8(a) or EDWOSB, eliminate other competitors to level the playing field. The goal of these small businesses is to become well-established businesses in the future so that these same companies do not need to use reserved markets.
I don’t know what DOGE will bring, but I’m preparing to be impacted
Although TJS Group performed well under the previous Trump administration, we are unclear how this administration will treat or change small businesses. I’m not as hopeful as I have been in previous years, given the conversation around Ministry of Government Effectiveness.
The SBA’s 8(a) program has already been in question for the past year or two, so there is strong reason to believe that it may not exist in the next 10 years. The program has come under scrutiny, and in 2023 there was a ruling challenging it. The program now requires applications to be processed with a surcharge narrative requirement of social disadvantage. Before this decision, race served as a criterion for being socially disadvantaged. NOW, you must give an example of a situation of social disadvantage and explain how it impacted your entry into the business world.
As we all know, any major decision, especially for small businesses, requires many changes, and this can take months or even years. I don’t think DOGE will have a lasting effect, but it can potentially negatively affect small businesses like ours. The way to reduce this fear and uncertainty is to prepare, be well informed and refine your strategy.
It’s like basketball: you live by the three-point shot. TJS Group cannot simply rely on our 8(a) or EDWOSB status for awards, we must bid competitively on opportunities to remain competitive. So we’re trying to be proactive in also looking for opportunities with federal agencies that anyone could take advantage of.
We also consider partnering with larger companies, who may have outsourcing goals and requirements that require partnering with smaller companies. These partnerships can provide opportunities to expand service offerings and access new customers for small businesses.
We also study opportunities that could become commercial so that we don’t just rely on the government.
Any contract based on government funding is uncertain. Often, contracts remain for all base and option years if there is financing and you provide good service. So you could have it for the base, but if they say we don’t have funding for the next four years, you can only have it for that year.
My advice to other government contractors would be to pursue opportunities competitively and focus on a niche that aligns with both federal and commercial industries so as not to rely solely on government opportunities.
Public procurement is not for the weak. You need to plan your business for a worst-case scenario, just in case it happens. You run a business and you manage it. And so that’s a whole nuance in itself that you have to prepare for.
There is also never a clear answer when there is a change in administration, so it is important to focus on the things we as small businesses can control.