It’s been more than 15 years since New Jersey entrepreneur Tracey Syphax’s company?Capital City Contracting became an SBA certified 8(a) contractor for the federal government. The catalyst, Syphax says, put his business on solid ground where it still remains today.
Syphax said politicos and minority and women owned business enterprises (M/WBE’s) frequently criticize the 8 (a) program as being too tedious, convoluted and frustrating for small and emerging business owners. ?Once you complete the process, it can be the thing that puts your business over the top,? Syphax said in a recent interview with TNJ.com.? Syphax, 52, landed his first contract with the U.S. Department of the Interior shortly after his company became SBA certified in 2000. The contract was for about $80,000. Syphax has since gone on to open several additional small businesses, with his total empire topping more than a million dollars in revenues annually.
Lastly, an ex- convict, author and outspoken advocate of prisoner re-entry initiatives, Syphax was honored last year by President Barack Obama for his commitment to helping the formerly disenfranchised. ?Employment and opportunities to start a business is one of the best ways for an ex-inmate to redeem himself and start over on the right path,? he said.
