Agencies Fall Further Behind in Meeting Small-Biz Contracting Goals
July 3, 2012
Small businesses got a smaller share of federal contracting dollars last year, the Small Business Administration announced Tuesday.
The federal government awarded nearly $92 billion in contracts to small businesses in fiscal 2011, or 21.7 percent of eligible contract dollars. That is down from the previous year when agencies spent nearly $98 billion on small businesses, or 22.7 percent of eligible contract dollars.
Agencies are required by law to award a combined 23 percent of federal contracting dollars to small businesses.
The SBA said in a release that the news "reflects the need for improvement in small business procurement across the federal government."