The U.S. Small Business Administration today announced the federal government met its small business contracting goal for the fifth consecutive year, awarding 23.88% contracts (totaling $105.7B) to small businesses – an increase of $5B in FY2017.
“The federal government has not only met and exceeded its small business contracting goal, but has awarded $105 billion to small businesses for the first time earning the government an A on SBA’s scorecard for this remarkable achievement,” said SBA Administrator Linda McMahon. “Every contract in the hands of a small business owner is a win-win for the business, creating jobs in their communities, and boosting the nation’s economy.”
Individual agency scorecards and a detailed explanation of the methodology, is available online: https://www.sba.gov/document/support–contracting-scorecard-grading-methodology . The federal government also exceeded service-disabled veteran-owned small business and small disadvantaged business goals. Prime contract dollars in all categories increased:
The federal government also exceeded its subcontract goals for awards to Women-Owned Small Business and Small Disadvantaged Businesses and awarded $75 billion in subcontracts to all small businesses. Fiscal Year 2017 prime and subcontracting awards to small businesses equate to nearly one million jobs created to support the nation’s economy.
SBA continues to collaborate with federal agencies to expand opportunities for small business contractors. The Small Business Procurement scorecard analyzed the prime contracting and subcontracting performance, and other contributing factors which resulted in an overall “A” grade for the federal government. Eight agencies received A+, 12 received a grade of “A”, three received a “B” grade and one received a “C” grade.
About the Scorecard
The annual Procurement Scorecard is an assessment tool to (1) measure how well federal agencies reach their small business and socio-economic prime contracting and subcontracting goals, (2) provide accurate and transparent contracting data and (3) report agency-specific progress. The prime and subcontracting component goals include goals for small businesses, small businesses owned by women, small disadvantaged businesses, service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses, and small businesses located in Historically Underutilized Business Zones (HUBZones).
Every year, the SBA works with each agency to set their prime and subcontracting goals and their performance is based on the agreed upon goals. Each federal agency has a different small business contracting goal, determined annually in consultation with SBA. SBA ensures the sum total of all of the goals exceeds the 23 percent target for the federal government as well as the socio-economic goals established by law.
While each federal agency is responsible for ensuring the quality of its own contracting data, SBA conducts additional analyses to help agencies identify potential data anomalies. As part of its ongoing data quality efforts, SBA works with federal agency procurement staff to provide analysis and tools to facilitate review of data, implement improvements to procurement systems and conduct training to improve accuracy.
The overall federal small business prime contracting performance released today by the SBA, as well as a detailed explanation of the calculations, is available online at http://go.usa.gov/Nxxd.
