Registering on SAM.gov gets you nothing with the State of Georgia. Georgia runs its own procurement portal, and its certification program for minority-, veteran-, and women-owned businesses was rebuilt from the ground up in 2024. If you're working off an old understanding of how Georgia certification works, you're working off something that no longer applies. Here's where things actually stand.
Team Georgia Marketplace is where you register and find the work
Team Georgia Marketplace (TGM), run by the Department of Administrative Services (DOAS), is the state's electronic procurement system, and you have to be registered in it to see and respond to bid and proposal opportunities (DOAS, Team Georgia Marketplace). If your company has never sold to the state before, you register as a sourcing bidder. If you've done business with Georgia previously, you register as a supplier instead. Either way, you'll need your NIGP code on hand, since that's what determines which bid notices actually reach you once you're registered (DOAS, Getting Started as a Supplier).
The Georgia Business Certification Program replaced the old system in 2024
For years, Georgia's minority-, veteran-, and women-owned business certification ran through a patchwork of separate processes. That changed on January 1, 2024, when DOAS launched the Georgia Business Certification Program under House Bill 128, consolidating certification authority for all three ownership categories under one DOAS-run program (DOAS, Georgia Business Certification Program). You don't apply straight to DOAS, though. You first need certification from one of six approved partner organizations, the Georgia Department of Transportation, the Georgia Minority Supplier Development Council, the Greater Women's Business Council, the National Veteran-Owned Business Association, the U.S. Small Business Administration, or the U.S. Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce, and only then submit that credential to DOAS for state recognition (DOAS, How to Get Certified).
One more thing worth checking before you plan around a timeline: DOAS paused new applications and renewals in the run-up to a new statewide eProcurement system, with processing set to resume July 1, 2026 (DOAS, Georgia Business Certification Program). If you're applying now, confirm current processing status directly with DOAS rather than assuming the pause is still in effect.
What certification actually gets you
Georgia defines minority-owned status as at least 51 percent ownership and control by one of five recognized ethnic groups, and small business size is tiered by employee count and gross receipts. Certification isn't a set-aside guarantee. It's a recognized status DOAS and individual agencies factor into their own vendor outreach and diversity goals, similar in spirit to how most state programs work: it improves your visibility and your standing with a buyer who already wants to hit a diversity target, rather than reserving a contract for you outright.
Where this differs from federal work
SAM.gov's UEI and CAGE code system has no equivalent in Team Georgia Marketplace, and a federal 8(a) or WOSB certification isn't automatically recognized by DOAS. The overlap runs one direction: SBA certification is one of the six accepted partner credentials feeding into the Georgia Business Certification Program, so an existing federal certification can shortcut part of the state process, but you still have to submit it to DOAS and get state-level recognition before it counts on a Georgia solicitation.
We are not Team Georgia Marketplace, not the Georgia Department of Administrative Services, and not affiliated with the State of Georgia. Registration is always free directly through doas.ga.gov. We provide preparation and bid-tracking assistance only.
Our own pipeline today is built around federal SAM.gov opportunities, with state and local coverage expanding from there. See how the federal side works on our how it works page.
Related reading
- Set-Asides Explained: 8(a), WOSB, HUBZone, SDVOSB, and the Rest
- How Minority-Owned Businesses Get Certified for Federal Set-Asides
- How to Win North Carolina State Contracts: eVP Registration and HUB Certification Explained