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Government Meets FY 13 Small Business Goal; HUBZones and WOSBs Fall Short

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August 6, 2014
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Did the government deserve an A on the FY 2013 Procurement Scorecard? Guest blogger Steven Koprince weighs in.
© Karen Roach - Fotolia.com
© Karen Roach – Fotolia.com

This is a guest post by Steven Koprince.

Small businesses were awarded 23.39% of prime contracting dollars in Fiscal Year 2013, a jump of more than a percentage point from FY 2012 levels–and above the 23% government-wide goal for the first time in several years.

According to the recently-released SBA Procurement Scorecard, the government exceeded its goals for SDVOSBs and SDBs, but failed to hit its targets for HUBZones and WOSBs. Despite these shortfalls, the SBA gave the government an overall “A” rating for its FY 2013 performance.

In FY 2013, the government awarded $83.1 billion in prime contracting dollars to small businesses, a rate of 23.39%. The government should be applauded for surpassing its percentage goal, but the percentage is not the whole story. Thanks to spending cuts, overall dollars awarded to small businesses fell considerably–down from $89.9 billion in FY 2012, a year in which the government only managed to award 22.25% of prime dollars to small businesses. In FY 2011, the government awarded only 21.65% of prime dollars to small businesses, but total awards were $91.5 billion. Hitting a percentage target is nice, but doesn’t make up for more than $8 billion in decreased small business spending in the last two years.

The government reached two of its four socioeconomic goals: 8.61% for SDBs (5% goal) and 3.38% for SDVOSBs (3% goal). Awards to WOSBs increased, on a percentage basis, from 4% to 4.32%, but still fell short of the 5% goal. HUBZone awards continued to decline sharply, down to 1.76% from 2.01% the previous year–just more than half the 3% goal.

Among notable agencies, the DoD awarded only 21.09% of prime dollars to small businesses, and missed three of the four socioeconomic goals–including the SDVOSB goal. The SBA nonetheless gave the DoD a “B” grade. The VA performed well overall, awarding 36.21% of prime dollars to small businesses and 19.38% to SDVOSBs. Although the VA missed its WOSB and HUBZone goals, it received an “A” for its efforts. The Department of Transportation received a well-deserved “A+” for awarding 43.34% of prime dollars to small businesses and meeting all four of its socioeconomic goals. As usual, the Department of Energy received an “F,” awarding only 5.71% of prime dollars to small businesses and falling far short on all four socioeconomic goals.

The FY 2013 Procurement Scorecard shows that many agencies are making sustained and committed efforts to award contracts to small businesses and meet their goals. Still, until the government meets all of its goals–including its WOSB and HUBZone goals–I question whether the overall “A” grade was deserved.

This post originally appeared on the SmallGovCon blog at http://smallgovcon.com/statutes-and-regulations/government-meets-fy-13-small-business-goal-hubzones-and-wosbs-fall-short/ and was reprinted with permission.

Steven Koprince is a partner with Petefish, Immel, Heeb & Hird, LLP in Lawrence, KS, with a practice focusing on federal government contracts and small business law. Steven is the author of The Small-Business Guide to Government Contracts (AMACOM Books, 2012), and has published a number of articles on government contracting. Steven has spoken to audiences across the country on government contracting and small business matters, and blogs regularly on similar topics at SmallGovCon.

Related posts:

  1. Bill H.R. 3850 – Government Efficiency through Small Business Contracting Act of 2012
  2. Looks Like the Feds Made 23% in FY13
  3. Five Myths About Doing Business with the Federal Government as a Small Business
  4. Biggest Gaps in Small Business Report Cards
  5. CSIS Study Finds Mid-Sized Firms are Getting Squeezed Out of Government Contracts
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Bill Jaffe
August 23, 2017
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