Every year, the federal government spends more than $400 billion on goods and services, making it the largest buyer in the world. The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) recently released the Fiscal Year 2019 Small Business Federal Procurement Scorecard, which evaluates each agency’s performance in small business prime and subcontracting and assigns grades ranging from A+ to F.
In FY19, the federal government surpassed its small business contracting goal, awarding a historic $132.9 billion—or 26.50 percent—in prime contract dollars to small businesses. This is an increase of $12 billion from FY18, earning the federal government an “A” on the SBA’s Scorecard. This remarkable achievement exceeds the previous record of $120 billion awarded to small businesses in FY18.
It was also a groundbreaking year for women-owned small businesses. For only the second time since implementing the women-owned contracting goal, the federal government met the five percent target by awarding $26 billion in federal contracts, or 5.19 percent, to women-owned small businesses.
Additionally, nearly $90.7 billion in subcontracting dollars were awarded to small businesses. Combined, the prime and subcontracting dollars create approximately one million jobs annually through federal contracting. These jobs help build communities and stimulate the nation’s economy.
With 25 years of experience as a professional program administrator in various roles, including Chief Procurement Officer for the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Chief Acquisition Officer at the Department of Energy, I oversee the SBA’s Office of Government Contracting and Business Development. This office is responsible for ensuring that at least 23 percent of federal contract dollars go to small businesses annually.
Our goal is to increase support for the small business contracting community. This includes agency procurement personnel such as SBA’s Procurement Center Representatives, Commercial Market Representatives, the Office of Small Disadvantaged Business Utilization, the Office of Small Business Programs, and contracting officers responsible for awarding contracts to small businesses to meet the 23 percent goal.
It’s incredibly rewarding to see the collaboration between the SBA, its partner agencies, and small business owners. Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, meeting these small business contracting goals is part of our commitment to supporting and representing entrepreneurs throughout the government.
The success stories of small business owners like James Moore, Managing Partner of Expert Maintenance and Construction Services, LLC (EMCS), highlight the impact of these efforts. James, who is the SBA’s Louisiana 2020 Small Business Person of the Year, started his business with just two employees and has since grown to 85 employees with $16 million in revenues. EMCS has performed numerous contracts across federal, state, and local agencies and private entities in states like Louisiana, South Carolina, Kansas, Missouri, and Texas.
The SBA is extremely proud of the small businesses we support. We are grateful to work with our federal partners and appreciate their efforts in achieving and exceeding the 23 percent goal. This accomplishment is not only a victory for the federal government but also a win for small businesses and the nation’s economy.
