HOUSTON – Recently, the U.S. Small Business Administration announced that the federal government exceeded its small business federal contracting goal for the sixth consecutive year, awarding 25.05 percent in federal contract dollars to small businesses totaling $120.8 billion, an increase from the previous fiscal year of nearly $15 billion. The Fiscal Year 2018 Small Business Federal Procurement Scorecard marks the first time more than $120 billion in prime contracts has been awarded to small businesses. Overall, the federal government earned an “A” on this year’s government-wide scorecard.
“I’m happy to report that for the first time in history the federal government has awarded more than $120 billion in federal contracts and marked the sixth year in a row exceeding our target milestones for small businesses,” said Acting Administrator Chris Pilkerton. “Through these businesses, we strengthen the economy, and support the American workforce in the process. For example, the federal prime and subcontract awarded to small businesses in FY18 equate to more than one million jobs created. Every contract that gets in the hands of a small business is a win-win for our nation, the entrepreneurs, their employees and the communities they support all across the country.”
This has special significance for Houston. “We are very proud that the top 10 small businesses receiving federal contracts in Houston are all SBA clients – all of them are either current or former 8(a) firms”, said District Director Tim Jeffcoat. SBA 8(a) is a business development program that helps eligible businesses get special access to federal contracts, receive specialized training, establish joint-ventures with existing government contractors, and procure excess federal equipment. More info is available here.
FY2018 Small Business Federal Procurement Scorecard:
The individual agency scorecards released by the SBA, as well as a detailed explanation of the methodology, is available online.
- In FY18, the federal government exceeded the service-disabled veteran-owned small business and small disadvantaged business goals and the prime contract dollar awards in all small business categories increased from previous years.
- The federal government also exceeded its subcontract goals for awards to small businesses and women-owned small businesses, and awarded more than $79 billion in subcontracts to all small businesses.
The prime contract goal achievements by dollars and percentages for all categories are as follows:
|
Category |
Goal |
2014 |
2015 |
2016 |
2017 |
2018 |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
$(B) |
%SB |
$(B) |
%SB |
$(B) |
%SB |
$(B) |
%SB |
$(B) |
%SB |
||
|
23% |
$91.7 |
24.9% |
$90.7 |
25.7% |
$99.7 |
24.4% |
$105.7 |
23.8% |
$120.8 |
25.05% |
|
|
Small Disadvantaged Business |
5% |
$34.7 |
9.5% |
$35.4 |
10.1% |
$39.1 |
9.4% |
$40.2 |
9.1% |
$46.5 |
9.65% |
|
Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business |
3% |
$13.5 |
3.7% |
$13.8 |
3.9% |
$16.3 |
4.0% |
$17.9 |
4.1% |
$20.6 |
4.27% |
|
Women Owned Small Business |
5% |
$17.2 |
4.7% |
$17.8 |
5.1% |
$19.7 |
4.8% |
$20.8 |
4.7% |
$22.9 |
4.75% |
|
HUBZone |
3% |
$6.7 |
1.8% |
$6.4 |
1.8% |
$6.9 |
1.7% |
$7.3 |
1.7% |
$9.9 |
2.05% |
SBA continues to collaborate with federal agencies to expand small business opportunities for small business contractors to compete and win federal contracts. The FY2018 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.
Small Business Federal Procurement Scorecard Overview:
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 the SBA. The SBA ensures that the sum total of all of the goals exceed 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, the 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.
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About the U.S. Small Business Administration
The U.S. Small Business Administration makes the American dream of business ownership a reality. As the only go-to resource and voice for small businesses backed by the strength of the federal government, the SBA empowers entrepreneurs and small business owners with the resources and support they need to start and grow their businesses. It delivers services to people through an extensive network of SBA field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations. To learn more, visit www.sba.gov.