In anticipation of the government’s annual small business procurement scorecard this summer, a group of small business advocates and watchdog groups has asked top federal procurement officials to stop practices that inaccurately reflect how close agencies have come to meeting their goals. The scorecard measures the percent of federal prime and subcontract dollars awarded to small businesses, including women owned small businesses, small disadvantaged businesses, service disabled veteran-‐owned small businesses and small businesses operating in Historically Underutilized Business Zones. The federal government’s goal is to award 23 percent of its contract dollars to small businesses each year. During fiscal 2010, the federal government…
Browsing: small business
A new online tool developed by the Federal Communications Commission allows small businesses to create a cybersecurity plan for free. The FCC Small Biz Cyber Planner is a three-step process and takes minutes to create. After providing your company’s name and location, you can compile guidance on several topics — including mobile devices, network security and email — to include in your custom plan. Once you select the topics to include, the site generates a custom report with a cybersecurity glossary and links to reference publications. For example, under guidance about network security, the plan advises companies to require security and…
A House committee hearing scheduled for Tuesday has been cancelled after agencies that were subpoenaed to testify about their refusal to put senior leadership in charge of their small business contracting activities decided to reorganize instead. On Oct. 20, House Small Business Committee Chairman Sam Graves issued subpoenas to the Treasury, State, Justice and Agriculture departments, requiring their deputy secretaries attend a Nov. 1 hearing to discuss their noncompliance with the federal Small Business Act. The four agencies had previously refused to change the organizational structure of their Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU), which, according to the federal Small Business Act, is supposed…
Agencies that refuse to put senior leadership in charge of their small business contracting activities, as required by law, will be asked to explain their noncompliance to a House small business subcommittee. The Small Business Act requires each agency to have an Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) that ensures contracts are written with small business participation in mind. By law, the director of these offices should report directly to an agency’s secretary or deputy secretary. The Government Accountability Office reported in June that the Agriculture, Commerce, Interior, Justice, State and Treasury departments are not complying with the…
Small business program directors at seven federal agencies have been asked by a House subcommittee to explain why they are sidestepping reporting requirements. The directors of the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) at the Agriculture, Justice, State, Commerce, Treasury and Interior departments as well as the Social Security Administration were not reporting directly to their agency heads, as required by the Small Business Act, according to a June Government Accountability Office report. The reporting requirement is meant to ensure that OSDBU directors have direct access to their agencies’ top decision makers to advocate for small businesses in…
Two firms have been cut from a $3 billion Department of Homeland Security contracting program because of Small Business Administration suspensions. Neither EG Solutions nor MultimaxArray FirstSource, or MAF, was renewed under one-year contract options exercised this month for the First Source information technology program, DHS spokesman Larry Orluskie said today. Representatives for the two firms did not respond to emailed requests for comment this afternoon. Orluskie noted that the contract, first awarded in 2007, is set to be re-competed next year. Both companies remain under suspensions levied by the SBA in November for alleged abuses of small business contracting…
Companies seeking preferential treatment as veteran-owned or small businesses will first have to verify their status with the Veterans Affairs Department. Under the 2010 Veterans Benefits Act, VA has greater responsibilities to ensure that businesses competing for set-aside contracts are eligible. This applies to companies currently listed in VA’s Vendor Information Pages database. Since mid-December, the agency has contacted more than 13,000 businesses by e-mail and mail to notify them of the new deadline. Companies have 90 days to submit documentation to VA upon notification, or they will not be listed in the database, VA announced Monday. The verification…
The Small Business Administration launched a new online course today designed to help small firms win federal contracts. The course gives businesses information about the federal market, such as where to find opportunities, contract rules and how to sell to federal agencies. The course, “Recovery Act Opportunities: How to Win Federal Contracts,” is part of the new Obama administration initiative to increase the use of small business among federal agencies. Last month, the White House announced SBA and the Commerce Department will take part in 200 outreach, education and training events over the next thee months to help small businesses…
I recently reported that the Small Business Administration and the Commerce Department were planning to participate in more than 200 events boost small businesses contracting under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. But it looks like those agencies aren’t the only ones working to ensure small businesses benefit from stimulus spending. The Transportation Department announced today that it has dedicated $20 million in Recovery Act funds to create a “Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Bonding Assistance Program.” The program, which is run by the department’s Office of Small Disadvantaged Business Utilization, allows small and disadvantaged businesses to apply for reimbursements for the…