WASHINGTON – United States Senator Mary L. Landrieu, D-La., Chair of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, today expressed encouragement at the news that the U.S. government came closer to meeting its goal of awarding 23 percent of all federal contracting dollars to small businesses. During FY 2012, 22.3 percent ($89.9 billion) of federal contracting dollars went to small businesses compared to 21.7 percent in FY 2011.
Federal agencies also exceeded the goal for service disabled veterans for the first time and delivered the highest percentage of contracts to small disadvantaged businesses to date.
“As we continue to see, small businesses are capable of providing the same, and in many cases, superior products and services as large companies and they should be given the same opportunities to do business with the federal government,” Sen. Landrieu said. “I am encouraged by the progress being made and I remain committed to seeing the federal government meet its small business contracting goals.”
The statistics were announced by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) as part of its annual Small Business Procurement Scorecard. SBA is required to report to the President and Congress on achievements by federal agencies and departments against their annual procurement goals to ensure greater accountability. The Small Business Procurement Scorecard provides an assessment of federal achievement in prime contracting and subcontracting to small businesses by the 24 Chief Financial Officers Act agencies. It also measures progress that departments are making to ensure small business opportunities remain an integral part of their acquisition of goods and services to meet mission objectives.
During National Small Business Week, Sen. Landrieu led a roundtable entitled “Sequestration: Small Business Contractors Weathering the Storm in a Climate of Fiscal Uncertainty.” The roundtable focused on the impact of the federal budget reduction on small business and what federal agencies are doing to achieve their small business contracting goals.
On April 1, Sen. Landrieu sent a letter to more than 30 agencies expressing her concern about how agencies will ensure that the implementation of budget reductions required under the Budget Control Act of 2011 will not hurt our small businesses and federal agencies.
Click here to see the SBA’s FY 2012 Small Business Procurement Scorecard.
Click here to see a video of Sen. Landrieu’s Small Business Contracting Roundtable.
Click here to see a sample of the letters Sen. Landrieu sent to federal agencies.
###
