There's a lot of Federal contractors in my neck of the woods, and a few friends have joked that if they could just find a minority, female, combat-injured veteran to partner with they'd have a license to print money as you're effectively guaranteed a contract at that point.
> These groups include: African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Native Americans, Alaska Native Corporations, Indian Tribes, Native Hawaiian Organizations and Community Development Corporations, Asian Pacific Americans and Subcontinent Asian Americans.
Additionally
> Individuals who are not members of one or more of these groups can be considered for the 8(a) program, but they must provide substantial evidence and documentation that demonstrates that they have been subjected to bias or discrimination and are economically disadvantaged.
[0] - https://www.sba.gov/blogs/woman-owned-sdvosb-and-minority-ow...
Also: For a small company it helps to be part women or minority owned because a certain percent of contracts has to go to these.