AbilityOne Program

AbilityOne is governed by the Javits-Wagner-O'Day (JWOD) Act and administered by the U.S. AbilityOne Commission. When a product or service is added to the AbilityOne Procurement List, federal agencies are legally required to purchase it from an authorized AbilityOne NPA — not through open competition.

How the Procurement List works:

• The AbilityOne Commission maintains a Procurement List of specific products (identified by NSN) and services (identified by SOW and agency) that must be sourced from NPAs
• Two central nonprofit agencies manage the program: National Industries for the Blind (NIB) and SourceAmerica (for other significant disabilities)
• NIB and SourceAmerica affiliate with over 500 nonprofit agencies nationwide that actually perform the work

Why commercial contractors must know this:

• If you're bidding on a service contract (janitorial, food service, document management, base operations support), check the AbilityOne Procurement List before investing in a proposal — the requirement may already be mandated to an NPA
• AbilityOne items have mandatory source status that supersedes small business set-asides and even sole-source justifications in most cases
• A solicitation that competes a requirement already on the Procurement List is improper and can be protested

Opportunities within AbilityOne:

• Commercial companies can subcontract to AbilityOne NPAs or provide equipment, technology, and support services to NPAs performing AbilityOne contracts
• NPAs often need commercial partners for specialized capabilities they don't have in-house