For Small Businesses Pursuing Federal Contracts

Win the contracts you can't bid on alone.

Fabius Group is a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (“SDVOSB”). Through a compliant joint venture, your company's capabilities and Fabius' SDVOSB status combine to compete for federal set-aside contracts that would otherwise be closed to you.

Best fit: lower-middle-market small businesses looking to grow their federal contracting book through the set-aside program.

The problem with open competition

If you're bidding on full-and-open opportunities on SAM.gov, you're competing against everyone — including incumbents with decades of past performance and business-development teams built for federal capture. Win rates in open competition are punishing, especially for firms new to government work.

But a significant share of federal contracting dollars never reaches open competition. Congress requires agencies to reserve contracts for specific categories of small business — and one of the most valuable categories is the Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business set-aside.

$28.6B
Awarded to SDVOSBs in FY2025[1]
5%
Government-wide SDVOSB contracting goal — raised from the original 3%[2]
$5M
Sole-source ceiling — awards possible with no competition at all[1]

Two ways to work together

There are two proven structures for a company to reach SDVOSB set-aside work through Fabius Group. The rules governing both change frequently — certification requirements, workshare percentages, and joint-venture provisions have all been rewritten in recent years — so part of what you're partnering for is a principal who tracks the regulations so you don't have to.

The Subcontracting Path

Fabius Group bids and wins the set-aside contract as prime. Your firm performs as our subcontractor.

  • Fast to start — no SBA approvals or new entities required
  • On services contracts, subcontractors can perform work worth up to 50% of the contract value under federal workshare rules[3]
  • A low-commitment way to test the partnership on a first contract

Best for: getting a first federal win quickly, or project-by-project collaboration.

The mentor-protégé path, step by step

  1. Fit assessment

    We start with a short evaluation of your capabilities, NAICS codes, and target agencies — and whether the set-aside math actually works in your favor. If this isn't the right vehicle for you, we'll say so.

  2. Mentor-protégé agreement

    We prepare and submit a mentor-protégé agreement to the SBA through certify.sba.gov, laying out the business development assistance your firm provides. SBA review typically runs about three months[5] — we use that window to build the opportunity pipeline.

  3. Joint venture formation

    With the agreement approved, we stand up a compliant joint venture: a written JV agreement meeting SBA requirements, Fabius Group as managing venturer, defined workshare, and registration in SAM.gov.[4] [6] Structure is everything — this is where ventures fail audits, and where we are most rigorous.

  4. Capture and bid

    Together we identify SDVOSB set-aside and sole-source opportunities matched to your strengths, engage contracting officers, and submit as the joint venture — competing in a restricted pool instead of the open market.

  5. Perform and build past performance

    Your team does what it does best; Fabius Group performs its required share and manages the venture. Every award builds federal past performance credited to both partners — an asset that compounds with every subsequent bid.

Why partner with Fabius Group

Access to a restricted market

SDVOSB set-asides routinely draw a fraction of the bidders of open competition, and sole-source awards up to $5 million can be made with no competition at all. Eligibility is the gate — the joint venture is the key.

Certified through SBA VetCert

Fabius Group is certified by SBA under the VetCert program — the mandatory standard for SDVOSB set-asides[2] — as both an SDVOSB and a VOSB, effective 08/01/2026. Every partnership rests on verified, SBA-confirmed eligibility.

An operator, not a broker

Fabius Group is owner-operated by a service-disabled Marine Corps veteran with a decade across institutional finance and defense-technology companies. You partner directly with the principal who manages the venture — no layers, no hand-offs.

Faster path than building it yourself

Certifications, registrations, and federal past performance take years to build from scratch. Partnering lets you compete for set-aside work now, while building a federal track record under your own name.

A guide through shifting rules

SDVOSB certification moved from self-certification to mandatory SBA review. Workshare formulas, joint-venture provisions, and program thresholds are revised regularly. We structure every partnership to the current regulation — and restructure when the regulation moves.

Aligned incentives

We win when the venture wins. As managing venturer performing a required share of the work, Fabius Group's success is tied to contract performance — not consulting hours.

Compliance is the product

The SDVOSB program is closely policed, and it should be. Pass-through arrangements — where a veteran-owned firm lends its status while another company does all the work — are illegal, and the government prosecutes them. Fabius Group only enters arrangements it genuinely manages and works. On the subcontracting path, that means honoring the federal limitations on subcontracting. On the mentor-protégé path, SBA rules require the SDVOSB to serve as managing venturer and perform at least 40% of the joint venture's work, beyond administrative functions.[4] We build every partnership to that standard from day one, because a contract you can't defend in an audit isn't worth winning.

See if the math works for you

Send a short note on what your company does and the agencies you want to sell to. If a joint venture makes sense, we'll map the opportunity together.

Start the Conversation

Sources & References

  1. Fed-Spend, "SDVOSB Contract Opportunities: Where $28.6 Billion Actually Goes" — analysis of federal procurement data, FY2025.
  2. U.S. Small Business Administration, Veteran Contracting Assistance Programs — VetCert certification requirements and the government-wide SDVOSB contracting goal.
  3. 13 C.F.R. § 125.6 — Prime contractor's limitations on subcontracting.
  4. 13 C.F.R. § 128.402 — Joint venture offers on VOSB and SDVOSB contracts, including managing-venturer, workshare, and mentor-protégé provisions.
  5. U.S. Small Business Administration, SBA Mentor-Protégé Program — eligibility, application through certify.sba.gov, and agreement terms.
  6. U.S. Small Business Administration, Joint Ventures — entity setup, SAM.gov registration, and reporting requirements.

References current as of July 2026. Federal small-business contracting regulations change frequently; nothing on this page is legal advice, and current regulations govern in all cases.