Pro-Net for Dummies
Detailed Reference Guide!
PRO-NET HAS MOVED!!!
Notice Announcing Change on http://www.ccr.gov/
SBA, OMB, GSA and DOD Work Together to Integrate PRO-Net and CCR Database
and Simplify Contracting Process for Small Businesses
The U.S. Small Business Administration, the Department of Defense, the Office of Management and
Budget and the General Services Administration have taken steps to simplify the federal contracting
process by creating an integrated database of small businesses that want to do business with the
government.
The integration of PRO-Net and DOD's Central Contractor Registration (CCR) databases has
created one portal for entering and searching small business sources. This integration assists
small businesses with marketing their goods and services to the federal government. The
integration began on Jan 1, 2004.
The CCR/PRO-Net linkage was part of a comprehensive strategic effort to transfer PRO-Net's
functions to the E-Gov Business Partner Network (BPN) in order to simplify government-wide
vendor registration. The network is part of the Integrated Acquisition Environment (IAE), one of
the e-government initiatives under the President's Management Agenda. IAE is carrying out
OMB's mandate for new processes to streamline federal acquisition by creating common
integrated business processes for buyers and sellers in the federal marketplace. The network
incorporates DOD's CCR database. Registration in CCR is now a requirement for federal
contracts. On Jan 1, 2004, CCR assumed all of PRO-Net's search capabilities and functions.
Small businesses will no longer need to manually register in both PRO-Net and CCR.
"We are continuing to make strides in simplifying the process to help small businesses conduct
business with the government," said SBA Administrator Hector V. Barreto. "By integrating PRO-
Net's functions into CCR, the foundation of the Business Partner Network, we are helping to
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advance the President's goal of a single, user-friendly, integrated acquisition environment."
This merger was another step toward the goals to unify common systems and ensure that data
need only be entered once and then reused.
Procuring agencies and contracting officers who relied on PRO-Net as the authoritative source
for vendors that are certified in SBA's 8(a) Business Development program, HUBZone
Empowerment Contracting Program and Small Disadvantaged Business program will now
access this information through CCR. To conduct market research and confirm eligibility for
SBA's procurement preference programs, users can now go to the CCR Web site at
http://www.ccr.gov/ and click on the "Dynamic Small Business Search" button. All of the search
options and information that existed in PRO-Net will now be found at the CCR Dynamic Small
Business Search site.
Within SBA, PRO-Net has been superseded by the Small Business Source System (SBSS), an
internal database of firms certified by SBA under the 8(a) Business Development and HUBZone
programs, and as Small Disadvantage Businesses. The SBSS will populate those fields in
CCR. The SBSS will automatically review the NAICS codes supplied by a firm and perform
calculations against each NAICS code size standard to determine which NAICS codes the firm
qualifies as a small business, based on employment and revenue information entered into CCR.
Firms will update their records via the CCR Update Web page and should follow the links and
directions found there. This automated review of a firm's size is being done to determine if it is
eligible to be included in the SBSS and does not affect, in any way, the self-representation
requirement for Federal procurement.
For more information, please visit the CCR Web site at http://www.ccr.gov/, or contact Tina
Johnson at (202) 205-7338 or by e-mail at tina.johnson@sba.gov.
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HELP GUIDE INSTRUCTIONS
The purpose of this document is to provide a “detailed” reference guide to using the Dynamic
Small Business Search Function on the Central Contractor Registration Page (Formally Pro-Net
Search Page). CCR will be the only approved web portal for the Small Business Administration
(SBA) for determining how a supplier or potential supplier may be classified by the SBA. Any
questions pertaining to this document should be directed to your Small Business Liaison
Officer (SBLO).
You can search the database using many different criteria including company name, address, phone
number, zip code, capability keywords as well as minority classifications.
In Section II, is a help sheet on using the SBA’s HUB Zone web site that may be useful in aiding
the buying community counsel our current or prospective suppliers to help them determine if they
potentially qualify for HUB Zone status. This web site can help you determine if the supplier’s
facility is located in an APPROVED census tract that is classified as a HUB Zone.
Section I: Central Contractor Registration Small Business Dynamic
Search Option Detailed Reference Guide
Procedure:
1. NOTE: Recommended search methods are in Bold Font!
2. Go to the search page using the following link: www.ccr.gov. No logging in or
authentication is required to access the site.
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3. You will be directed to the following screen:
Click on this
box to begin
your search
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4. Once you hit the “Search Database” Button, you will be presented with the following search
form:
*** Please read DISCLAIMER
5.
5. In this section of the form, you can select/limit your search to a state or multiple states (up to
five [5] states may be selected by pressing the CTLR key and selecting the next state code).
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6.
7.
6. You can also search by Congressional District and County code if you know them. You can
click on the links provided that will take you to other sites where the codes can be looked
up. It is not recommended you use these function codes.
7. One of the most effective ways to search by is by entering the supplier’s phone number
in the format of (123-456-7890). If the phone number is correct and they are in the
database, then it will take you right to that supplier’s information.
If you scroll down, you will see more search options.
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8.
9.
10.
11.
8. You can search by Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) or SBA Serving Office. You can
click on the links provided to take you to other sites where the codes can be looked up.
Because these codes would seldom be known, it is not recommended you use these fields.
9. Another effective method is using the zip code if you know it. This limits the search to
only those firms listed in a particular zip code. Caution: In some large urban areas,
there can be hundreds of businesses listed within the same zip code. You will then have
to limit your search further using some of the other selections. In most cases, there
should be less than 100 selections returned and the list can be quickly scanned for the
supplier you are looking for.
10. The box below the zip code selection field allow you to filter the search for specific
certifications the supplier has received from the SBA (e.g. 8(a), Small Disadvantaged or
HUBZone certification). If for example you wanted to search for all HUBZone businesses in
the database, you would select the “required” radio button under that certification. These
certification fields can be used in conjunction with the other fields mentioned above to
further limit the search to a specific state, zip code etc…
11. You can also search on specific “minority” classifications using the check boxes in this
section. For example, if you were only looking for Service Disabled Veterans, then you
would select that check box. Again, these check boxes can be used in conjunction with other
fields to limit the search.
Scroll more to see further selections:
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12.
13.
14.
12. This section allows you to perform a search on specific attributes related to the “North
American Industry Classification System” or NAICS. This replaced the “Standard Industry
Classification” or SIC codes.
13. You can also look for specific business types that have been so categorized in Pro-Net using
the check boxes if you are looking for a particular type of business.
14. The “Profile Last Updated” selection is one of the most important selections on this
search form! You should always type in the date “01/01/1900” and make sure the “On
or after” radio button is selected. This is the default. This will allow you to retrieve
profiles that have been updated only within the last 18 months.
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If you click on the NAICS link to search for a code, you will be directed to the following web site.
Note: When you click on a link that takes you to another web site not controlled by the SBA,
you will see the following disclaimer at the top of the page:
“This is a new window to follow the link you clicked. To return to where you were at the SBA,
simply close this window.”
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The next screen section of search criteria is below:
15.
16.
17.
15. You can select construction and service bonding levels. It is not recommended that you populate
these fields unless you know the specific information.
16. You can select specific certification criteria such as ISO-9000 and ANSI etc… by selecting the
check box next to the certification you require. Caution: As with most information on the
CCR search page, this certification information is provided by the supplier and is not
verified by the SBA.
17. You can search for businesses that are of certain size in terms of (A) Number of employees and
(B) Annual Gross Revenue. You can use the radio buttons to the left as boundaries to you
search. Enter gross dollars in the format of (123456789).
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The next screen section of search criteria is below:
a.
18.
b.
c.
d.
18. You can search on capabilities and other criteria in this section:
a. Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)
b. Does the supplier accept Government Credit Card?
c. General Services Administration (GSA) Advantage Contract?
d. Is the supplier an Exporter?
All selections default to “Not Required”
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The next screen section of search criteria is below:
a.
b.
19.
c.
d.
e.
f.
18. This search box provides several selections to help you if you already have some
19. Information on the company you are looking for such as CAGE Code, DUNs number or a
partial company name.
a. You can find a supplier if you know their CAGE Code. CAGE stands for
“Commercial and Government Entity.” This link will take you to the Defense
Logistics Information Services (DLIS) web site that you can use to search for the
CAGE code you are looking for if you don’t know it.
b. DUNs selection allows you to search for a firm by its Dun and Bradstreet assigned
number and the link will take you to the D&B web site.
c. 8(a) Case Number. Do Not Use unless you know the codes!
d. EIN. Do Not Use unless you know the codes!
e. Company Name or Trade Name: This is a useful function to use if you know the
company name. It is best to use the “sounds like” matching radio button. It will
return all the selections with similar spelled names. You may want to use this
feature in conjunction with the state criteria to limit the responses.
f. SBA Customer Number: Do Not Use unless you know the codes!
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The final screen section of search criteria is below:
20.
21.
22.
23.
The bottom of the search form allows you to customize the search results form that will be
displayed when the search results are returned.
20. This selection allows you to select the maximum number of firms will be returned at a time.
This default is 25.
21. This box allows you to customize how the data is displayed on the search results form page.
Click the “Edit the Columns to be Displayed” button and a new window will come up that
allows you to customize how the search results are returned and displayed.
22. This selection table allows you to customize the display on the search results page. You can
display the data in table format or display the data so it can be downloaded into MS Excel
using the mail-merge selection.
23. Once you have entered the selections the way you want them, click on the “Search Using
These Criteria” button or you can clear your selections by clicking on the “Reset” button.
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Once you have clicked the search button, a search of the SBA’s database will commence based
on the criteria you have selected. The results will be displayed in similar to the one below.
This search was conducted using the zip code 01230 as the search condition.
24.
25.
24. The header includes information about the search criteria you selected and time of the
search. It also displays how many firms were found matching the criteria you selected.
25. This page also displays the table with the company information (name, address, phone,
email etc..). TIP: Refer to section 21 to see how the table display properties can be
modified so that different information can be displayed.
NOTE: The listings are returned in random order. They are not sorted!
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26.
27.
26. At the end of the table, there will be a note to indicate if there are any more matches to be
displayed and allow you to modify your search using the “Refine Search” button. The
default is to display 25 matches at a time. TIP: Refer to section 20 on how to change this
setting.
27. This feature allows you to save the email addresses for (A) all of the selections and provides
certain configuration options for you.
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If there are more than 25 matches, the display will look like the following:
28.
28. Click the button to display the next page of firms (Next 8) or use the page hyperlink under
the buttons.
You can also type in your email address and the list will be emailed to you. This will still
present the list in text form.
Hint: If you find one or several suppliers that you are interested in contacting via email, it
would probably be quicker to email them your request directly from the link on the
search results page.
One way to use this feature effectively is to search for example on capability keyword if
you were looking for a supplier with a particular capability based on the narrative they
have supplied, then once the list was returned, you could save the email addresses to a
file and add them to your MS Outlook address book.
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Section II:
HUB Zone Search Website
The purpose of this section is to describe the search function of the SBA’s HUB Zone web site
located at https://eweb1.sba.gov/hubzone/internet
What is a HUB Zone?
The HUB Zone Empowerment Contracting Program stimulates economic development and
creates jobs in urban and rural communities by providing Federal contracting preferences to small
businesses. These preferences go to small businesses that obtain HUBZone (Historically
Underutilized Business Zone) certification in part by employing staff that live in a HUB Zone.
The company must also maintain a "principal office" in one of these specially designated areas. [A
principal office can be different from a company headquarters, as explained on the web site
FAQ’s section .] The program resulted from provisions contained in the Small Business
Reauthorization Act of 1997.
DEFINITION:
“Means a historically underutilized business zone, which is an area located within one or
more qualified census tracts, qualified non-metropolitan counties, or lands within the
external boundaries of an Indian reservation. Status as a qualified HUBZone small business
concern is determined by the Small Business Administration (SBA) in accordance with 13
CFR part 126. If the SBA determines that a concern is a qualified HUBZone small business
concern it will issue a certification to that effect and will add the concern to the list of
Qualified HUBZone Small Business Concerns on its Internet website at
http://www.sba.gov/hubzone. “
The short answer is that it is an “underdeveloped” area with typically high
unemployment and/or low income!
Procedure:
1. Go to the following web site. No log on or authentication is required:
https://eweb1.sba.gov/hubzone/internet
2. You will be directed to the following page:
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3.
3. You will be presented with a web page that is very similar to the Pro-Net web page
discussed in section I. The page contains a scrolling banner towards the right hand side that
consists of recent changes and news. The navigation bar is on the left of the page.
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a.
c.
4.
d.
e.
b.
4. Two (2) navigation buttons are (a.) and (b.) will be discussed in this section. (c-e are
other helpful links that may be useful to the buyer or supplier)
a. The “Are you in a HUB Zone?” button can be used to search on a specific
address to determine if the supplier facility is located in a HUB Zone.
CAUTION: Just because a business is located in a HUB Zone, does not
mean they are certified only that they are eligible to apply for
certification. They have to be listed in Pro-Net as HUB Zone certified.
b. The “Certified HUB Zone Concerns” button will provide a list of certified
HUB Zone businesses.
c. Provides a link to an on-line application form that the supplier can use to
apply for certification.
d. Contracting officers link to aid in market research and additional search
functions.
e. A supplier can search for specific contracting opportunities set aside for HUB
Zone businesses as well as other businesses. The search can be performed by
set aside by small business classification (SDB, HUB etc..) and by type of
program (Weapons, Aircraft etc..)
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If you click on this link, you will be taken to the following information page:
The page contains frequently asked questions (FAQs) as well as tips on navigating the site.
Scroll down until you come to the following set of links:
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5.
5. The form provides several links to allow you to search in different ways: By address
and also within state, county and towns to see what areas are classified as HUB Zone
areas. The descriptions are self-explanatory.
6. If you wanted to see if a specific supplier address was located in a HUB Zone, you
would click the first link and enter the supplier address information on the form and
click the “search” button. The following page would be displayed.
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7.
8.
In this particular example, a search was conducted to see if a supplier located at 100
Chelmsford Street, Lowell, MA is located in a qualified HUB Zone.
7. The page will display a indicating an “answer” to your question as to whether the
particular address you entered resides in a HUB Zone.
8. The page also displays a map of the location containing that address.
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The lower section of the same page contains other information:
9.
10.
9. At the bottom of the map is a legend to help you interpret the color-coded shading
contained on the map. NOTE: As you tell by the map above HUB Zones are defined
by streets and other segmenting feature such as rivers. As a result, you cannot
assume because one business is in a HUB Zone just because the business across the
street is in a HUB Zone.
10. The page also contains a table to show on what basis the HUB Zone was determined in
this particular instance. In the example used, it is because it is located in a qualified
census tract.
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To find a List of HUB Zone Concerns:
11.
11. To find a listing of HUB Zone concerns by state, click on the link “Certified HUB
Zone Concerns”
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12.
12. You can select up to five (5) states by pressing the CTRL Key and clicking on each
state you want to search.
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For example, if you wanted to search the state of Massachusetts, you would click on the
state name and then click on the “Search” button.
13.
13. A page is displayed indicating the number of HUB Zone firms found (108 in this
case). It sorts the list alphabetically. If you want to see which business by name,
click on each letter.
If you clicked on the letter “A”, the following list would be returned:
(EXAMPLE ONLY)
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