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John ShorakaAssociate Administrator for Office of Government Contracting & Business DevelopmentSmall Business Administration - Office of Government Contracting & Business Development
FY 14-15: Agency Priority Goal
Maximize Small Business participation in government contracting
Priority Goal
Goal Overview
Congress has mandated that small businesses receive 23% of federal government prime contracting dollars, including 5% of prime and subcontracts to Small Disadvantage Businesses; 5% of prime and subcontracts to Women-Owned Small Businesses; 3% of prime and subcontracts to HUBZone Small Businesses; and 3% of prime and subcontracts to Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses
Meeting and exceeding the federal government’s small business procurement goals continues to be an Administration priority. Federal contracting with small businesses is a win-win. Small businesses get the revenue they need to grow their businesses and create jobs, and the federal government gets the opportunity to work with some of America’s most innovative and nimble small businesses, often times with a direct line to the CEO.
In FY 2012, the federal government made real progress toward the 23 percent goal, with 22.25 percent or $89.9 billion in federal contracting dollars going to small businesses compared to 21.65 percent in FY 2011, with significant impact in key areas:
- For the first time, more agencies than ever before met or surpassed all of their prime contracting goals.
- Also, for the first time, the federal government exceeded the goal for service disabled veterans.
- The federal government had the highest percentage of contracts going to Small Disadvantage Businesses to date.
As a result of a government wide focus on increasing small business contracting opportunities, during President Obama’s first term (FY2009 - FY2012) the federal government awarded $376.2 billion in federal contracting dollars to small businesses. This is a $48.1 billion increase over the four preceding years even as we have seen reduced spending overall.
Also, since President Obama took office, the SBA has supported more than $132.61 billion in Federal government contracting dollars to small disadvantaged businesses. This represents a 36.6 percent increase when compared to the prior Administration. Under the Bush Administration’s first term, $97.10 billion in federal government contracting dollars were awarded to small disadvantaged businesses.
Although we have seen marked success over the last few years, we know more must be done. Many challenges exist for small businesses seeking to enter the federal procurement marketplace.
- The unpredictable and changing budget climate is a challenge for small businesses, and SBA is working hard to create an environment where small businesses can be successful in the federal procurement marketplace.
- The instability and ambiguity caused by Continuing Resolutions make it difficult to agency acquisition staff to plan effectively for small business utilization.
- Entering the federal supply chain can often be a lengthy and arduous process for many small businesses.
SBA’s GCBD unit must implement effective and efficient strategies to monitor the agencies’ progress to goal, support small businesses interested in working with the government and encourage agencies to improve data quality when reporting their contracting activities. SBA will increase its efforts to collaborate with and hold federal agencies accountable to achieving their goals.
Strategies
SBA is focused on a number of initiatives to meet the 23 percent goal including:
- Implementation of the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 and the FY13 National Defense Authorization Act: Included in the Small Business Jobs Act of 2012 were 19 small business contracting provisions, most of which have been implemented. SBA will continue to work toward implementing rule changes and the continual review of small business size standards (1/3 every 18 months and all every five years). Likewise the FY13 National Defense Authorization Act included several provisions related to small business contracting, which the SBA has begun to implement. Most notably these provisions include the removal of dollar caps on WOSB set-asides and limitations on subcontracting.
- Collaboration with White House and Senior Agency officials – SBA will continue to collaborate with the White House to engage senior officials at each agency on the importance of meeting the small business procurement goals and to hold them accountable to the goals. Meetings will be held with the Deputy Secretaries of each Federal Agency on a regular basis.
- Recruit high quality, contract ready firms. In order to increase the pool of small businesses, 8(a) firms, HUBZone firms, Women-Owned Small Businesses and Service-Disabled, Veteran-Owned Small Businesses, SBA will work closely with trade associations and stakeholder groups to bring new small firms into the federal contracting market.
- Small business training tools. The federal acquisition space can be challenging to navigate for some small businesses. SBA will continue to add new training courses to the Government Contracting Classroom, an online training tool that seeks to equip small businesses to compete for and win federal contracts. SBA will also focus on new trainings and programs for small disadvantaged businesses.
Small businesses are some of the most innovated and responsive partners for the federal government. Through small business contracting, the federal government acts as a catalyst for small business growth and innovation.
When a small business gets a government contract, the small business is often able to quickly create jobs and spur economic growth. The government agency often has a “direct line” to the CEO, helping ensure that products and services are meeting or exceeding expectations and serving America’s taxpayers.
A strong supply chain of small businesses can be a determining factor for locating production in a particular area. To build capacity and depth in America’s small business supply chain, the SBA continues its leadership role in the American Supplier Initiative, an Administration-wide effort focused on investing in — and building capacity throughout — the nation’s small business supply chain through: increased market access for small businesses; counseling and mentoring services to assist small suppliers; ready sources of capital to support sales, and; addressing the skills gap facing many small manufacturers and suppliers.
Underserved communities – including women, minorities, veterans and others – often have extreme difficulty in accessing capital, counseling and federal contracting opportunities as market gaps remain. SBA’s unique contracting programs provide a path to business growth for these populations. The SBA will continue to work collaboratively with community development partners, credit unions, minority associations and others to tailor programs to meet their needs and ensure that SBA’s programs remain accessible to underserved communities.
Congress designated SBA as the agency responsible for overseeing small business contracting across the federal government. The SBA takes this responsibility seriously as the strongest voice for small business across the Administration.
Progress Update
To help influence federal agencies to meet the Fiscal Year 2015 (FY15) federal contracting goals, the SBA:
- Worked to implement various statutory rules to increase Small Business contracting opportunities and reduce fraud, waste, and abuse
- Chaired Small Business Procurement Advisory Council Meetings to provide updates on Small Business programs, share best practices, and promote a dialogue that benefits Small Businesses among council members
- Held Small Business recruitment events throughout SBA’s 68 District Offices
- Provided onsite Small Business and 8(a) Partnership Agreement training to over 800 Contracting Officers and Contract Specialists at 19 different Federal Agencies.
- Conducted ChallengeHER marketing and education outreach for over 540 Women-Owned Small Businesses (WOSB) and/or Economically Disadvantaged WOSB (EDWOSB)
- Increased focus on Native Tribal Communities and conducted various Destination HUB outreach events to engage HUBZone companies and their communities about benefits of the HUBZone Program
In Fiscal Year (FY) 2014, the SBA announced that the federal government exceeded the Small Business prime contracting goal with the best performance since the statutory establishment of the 23 percent goal in 1997. This achievement of 24.99 percent in FY 2014, for all federal contracts awarded to small businesses, totals $91.7 billion and supports 550,000 jobs in the U.S. economy. The federal government also exceeded the statutory prime contracting goals for small disadvantaged businesses (9.46 percent vs. the 5 percent goal) and service-disabled veteran-owned Small Businesses (3.68 percent vs. the 3 percent goal), and increased its performance with awards to small firms in Historically Underutilized Business Zones (HUBZone) (1.82 percent vs. 1.76 percent in FY 2013) and women-owned Small Business concerns (4.68 percent vs. 4.32 percent in FY 2013).
In FY 2014, five agencies met or exceeded all of their Small Business prime goals: Department of Agriculture, Department of Homeland Security, and Department of the Treasury, Department of Transportation and the Small Business Administration. In this same fiscal year, five agencies’ grades increased, 13 remained the same, and six decreased when compared to the previous fiscal year. Three agencies received an “A+” (Agency for International Development, Department of Commerce, and Department of Homeland Security), 17 agencies received an “A”, 2 agencies received a “B”, 1 agency received a “C”, and 1 agency received an “F”.
In FY 2015, the SBA far exceeded the 23.00 percent statutory requirement for the Small Business prime contracting goal, achieving 25.75 percent. Of note, during President Obama’s first seven years in office (FY 2009 - FY 2015), the federal government awarded $641.4 billion in federal contracting dollars to small businesses. These results are a consequence of government-wide focus on increasing small business contracting opportunities.
SBA continues to work towards increasing opportunities for small business contracting and minimizing fraud, waste, and abuse in its programs. As such, contracting provisions contained in the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 and the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) of 2013 have been implemented. Rules have been finalized for Subcontracting, Setting Aside Multiple-award Contracts and Orders for Small Businesses, Consolidation, and Size and Status Integrity. SBA has also published proposed rules addressing Prime/Sub Teaming efforts on set aside contracts and implementing a Small Business Mentor Protégé Program. These rules will give agencies the tools they need to increase small business utilization. Additionally, the SBA has issued a proposed rule to address Credit for Lower Tier Subcontracting on Small Business Subcontracting Plans contained in the NDAA of 2014, as well as a final rule implementing the statutory Sole Source Authority for Women Owned Small Business concerns contained in the NDAA of 2015.
As noted above, SBA has published proposed rules to establish a government-wide mentor-protégé program, consistent with SBA's popular 8(a) Business Development program, to match small business contractors with more experienced companies. In this process, the SBA proposed to close loopholes that masked fraud in similar past programming and to make minor changes to the 8(a) Business Development Mentor-Protégé Program to enhance consistency among all mentor-protégé programs. The proposed rule would make several additional changes to current size standards, 8(a) Office of Hearings and Appeals, and HUBZone regulations, including ownership and control, changes in primary industry, and standards of review. These changes will address recent audit recommendations and maximize small business participation in federal prime contracts.
The SBA established an 8(a) Application Streamlining Team to develop strategies to address hundreds of complaints from 8(a) applicants and congressional representatives across the country. The Team is responsible for improving accessibility to services for eligible 8(a) applicants by reducing the unnecessary administrative burdens while maintaining the integrity of the program and managing the risks associated with the ineligible firms that apply. The documents eliminated from the initial request for documentation were found to be unnecessary for making a decision on the criteria used to determine eligibility.
The SBA launched Destination HUB—a new initiative to promote and support HUBZone firms in federal contracting opportunities, while ensuring local economic development boards, government officials, federal buyers, and prime contractors work hand in hand to create more sole-source and set-aside opportunities for HUBZone-certified firms. Destination HUB is comprised of three components: (1) an in-depth examination of successes and needs in the HUBZone program, (2) analysis of ideal situations for successful HUBZone collaboration, harnessing the power of public-private partnerships and market research to recruit more firms for HUBZone participation and (3) launch of a broad grassroots educational initiative with community organizations, faith leaders, local economic development, and key stakeholders, to encourage participation in, and inspire collective ownership of, the HUBZone program. Destination HUB furthers SBA’s efforts to improve access to capital and close opportunity gaps in communities of color, by empowering entrepreneurs and small businesses economic and social mobility through employment and business growth. Destination HUB events have been hosted in Charles Town, WV; Jackson, MS; Nashville, TN; and Tulsa, OK, Fresno, CA, and Detroit, MI. In addition, SBA partnered with EPA to conduct targeted outreach to the Navajo small business community – firms owned by individuals or Tribal government - including HUBZone-certified small businesses, as well as those exploring certification in connection with future contracting opportunities relating to the cleanup of contaminated abandoned uranium mines. These events were held in Albuquerque, NM and Window Rock, AZ.
The SBA enhanced execution of the Surveillance Review (SR) program. In FY 2015, the SBA directly linked buying agencies to be reviewed based upon their performance for meeting their small business goals in FY 2014. Agencies that either missed their small business goal or had a buying activity that received either a marginal or unsatisfactory rating in the previous year were candidates for this new approach. As a result, 30 compliance reviews were conducted on 12 federal agencies in FY 2015. This new process resulted in 50 percent of the federal agencies having surveillance reviews conducted on one or more of their buying centers. The SR examines an agency’s small business program and ensures that agencies are 1) providing maximum practicable opportunity for small business; 2) complying with regulations and statutes; 3) promoting a sound program through its leadership; and 4) addressing corrective actions identified in previous reviews. The agencies that received reviews in FY 2015 included the Department of Defense, Department of Interior, Department of Commerce, Department of Energy, Department of Justice, Environmental Protection Agency, General Services Administration, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, NASA, Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
In an effort to maintain continued success increasing small business contracting opportunities, the SBA worked with the 24 Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Act agencies to establish the FY 2016 prime and subcontracting goals. The difference between the FY 2015 goal-setting process and the FY 2016 goal-setting process is the inclusion of overseas contracts in FY 2016, which were previously excluded from the goaling base. The inclusion of overseas contracts in the goaling base is a result of the NDAA of 2013 requirements to review existing goaling exclusions. Based on the final opinion from the SBA Office of General Counsel and in consultation with the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP), overseas contracts will no longer be excluded from the goaling base. The SBA has initiated discussions with the General Services Administration (GSA) to update the Federal Procurement Data System Next Generation (FPDS-NG) and the Small Business Goaling Report (SBGR) with this change for FY 2016.
Next Steps
No Data Available
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Performance Indicators
Percentage of federal prime contracts awarded to small business (23%)
Percentage of federal government prime contracts awarded to small disadvantaged business (5%)
Percentage of federal government prime contracts awarded to women-owned small businesses (5%)
Percentage of federal government prime contracts awarded to HUBZone (3%)
Percentage of federal government prime contracts awarded to Service-Disabled Veterans (3%)
Other Indicators
Dollar amount of all federal contract dollars awarded
Dollar amount of federal contract dollars awarded to small businesses
Contributing Programs & Other Factors
SBA’s Office of Government Contracting and Business Development (GCBD) is highly focused on engaging key stakeholders through outreach events and training programs. SBA actively participants in and hosts events with the following key stakeholders:
- Federal agencies: senior officials, procurement teams and small business program team
- Small businesses
- Trade groups
- Congress: Members, staff and constituents
GCBD has a robust process in place to ensure we are appropriately engaging key stakeholders with events, outreach, marketing, communications and training. Additionally, GCBD has a process in place to ensure engagement efforts are monitored.
The SBA’s GCBD office takes a lead coordinating role in helping each agency meet and exceed their respective small business goals. The Office encourages, monitors and facilitates the sharing of best practices and reports on the progress of all federal agencies in order to help the federal government meet its Congressionally-mandated small business contracting goals.
The Office of Communication and Pubic Liaison, the Office of Entrepreneurial Development, and the Office of Field Operations will promote SBA’s contracting opportunities to small business owners through comprehensive and coordinated marketing and outreach efforts, including online and in-person workshops and trainings. Additionally, SBA will work with its resource partners (including Women’s Business Centers and Small Business Development Centers) to develop outreach and training initiatives and other tools to help fully deploy the agency’s national network behind this goal.
Each federal agency is responsible for meeting its respective small business goal, and therefore has an important role to play in helping achieve the government-wide goal. The SBA works closely with the OMB’s Office of Federal Procurement Policy to collaborate on important initiatives and develop strategies for maximizing small business participation in the federal supply chain.
- Small Business Procurement Advisory Council (SBPAC). SBA chairs the SBPAC whose members are made up of directors of the Offices of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization. These directors are the advocates for small business within each agency, and meet regularly with their procurement offices to encourage the use of small businesses in meeting their agency goals.
- Collaboration with White House and Senior Officials. On a regular basis, the SBA collaborates with the White House and Senior Officials at each agency to ensure agencies are being held accountable for the government-wide small business contracting goal. This unprecedented collaboration has facilitated the sharing of best practices and has ensured top-level leadership commitment from across the federal government to utilize small businesses in the federal supply chain.
- Data Quality Process and the Data Quality Working Group. Consistent with SBA’s efforts to improve the quality of small business procurement data, over the last several years, SBA was able to significantly reduce the number of anomalies in agencies’ small business federal contracts. Moving forward, SBA and OFPP will continue to work together to develop a process that will: (1) improve efforts to achieve small business goals, (2) reduce burden on the workforce, and (3) improve data quality.
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Strategic Goals
Strategic Goal:
Growing businesses and creating jobs
Statement:
Growing businesses and creating jobs
Strategic Objectives
Statement:
Expand access to capital through SBA's extensive lending network
Description:
Access to capital is critical to the long-term success of America’s small businesses. The top priority at the SBA is to get lending flowing to small businesses. As the economy continues to improve, the SBA is working to ensure that remaining gaps in the commercial markets are filled and that small businesses across the country are well positioned to take advantage of opportunities. The SBA also continues to streamline and simplify its loan programs to make its products more attractive to lenders and borrowers.
Statement:
Ensure federal contracting goals are me and/or exceeded by collaborating across the federal government to expand opportunities for small businesses and strengthen the integrity of the federal contracting certification process and data.
Description:
Small business contracting is one of the most important federal programs to help America’s small businesses grow and create jobs. The federal government gets to work with the most innovative small businesses in America today, and small businesses get critical revenue to build and scale their operations. SBA’s goal is to make sure that all federal agencies meet or exceed their targets for federal prime contracting dollars awarded to small businesses. The SBA is improving coordination and communication across the federal government, facilitating matchmaking events, increasing online trainings and holding senior officials accountable for meeting their agencies’ small business goals. SBA continues to simplify access to federal contracting opportunities and educate small businesses on the contracting opportunities available to them. The SBA is also streamlining the certification process and data for federal contracting and continues to aggressively root out fraud, waste and abuse in small business contracting to ensure that contracting dollars go to deserving small businesses.
Statement:
Strengthen entrepreneurial ecosystems through a variety of strategic partnerships to provide tailored training, mentoring and counseling services that support entrepreneurs during every phase of their business growth
Description:
Entrepreneurs and small business owners who receive training, mentoring and/or advising services increase sales, create more jobs, and have greater economic impact on their communities. SBA’s resource partner network, including 63 SBDCs with over 900 outreach locations, over 100 WBCs, and 11,000 SCORE volunteers nationwide, along with online training, assists more than one million business owners and entrepreneurs each year. The SBA also leads and builds partnerships with other agencies and private sector partners to support robust entrepreneurial ecosystems across the country. For instance, regional innovation clusters bring together small businesses and entrepreneurs with venture capitalists, universities and regional industry leaders who can help leverage a region’s unique assets to turn entrepreneurial ideas into high-growth small businesses.
Statement:
Enhance the ability of current and future small business exporters to succeed in global markets by expanding access to financing, counseling, training and other export tools
Description:
Export sales contribute to a strong middle class by fueling economic opportunity and jobs in communities across the United States, while the countries buying American products gain access to some of the highest-quality products and services in the world. Today, nearly 96 percent of consumers and over two-thirds of the world's purchasing power reside outside the United States. Small businesses that can tap into this global market have the potential for vast expansion and growth, with small businesses now constituting 34 percent of total export dollars and comprising approximately 97.8 percent of all exporters.
Statement:
Fuel high-growth entrepreneurship, innovation and job creation by providing the tools small businesses need to start and grow their businesses.
Description:
High-growth businesses create almost all of the net new jobs in the economy today. Through longer-term “patient” capital, growth accelerators and regional innovation clusters, federal research and development (R&D) grants, and export assistance, the SBA plays a critical role in the ongoing success of high-growth small businesses. These high-growth investments provide opportunities for small businesses to create jobs and sustain the cycle of American entrepreneurship and innovation.
Statement:
Ensure that SBA’s disaster assistance resources for businesses, non-profit organizations, homeowners, and renters can be deployed quickly, effectively and efficiently in order to preserve jobs and help return small businesses to operation.
Description:
Returning small business operations to normal after a disaster is critical to ensuring that local economies regain traction as quickly as possible and are once again able to contribute to the economy and create jobs. The SBA, in coordination with the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), other federal agencies, the American Red Cross and array of state and local entities, helps small businesses prepare for disaster and provides timely and accessible low-cost, low-interest loans to small business owners, non-profits, homeowners, and renters who are survivors of disaster.
Statement:
Ensure the competitiveness and innovation of American manufacturing and supply chains by building capacity and supporting integrated networks of small business suppliers that encourage insourcing and the expansion of U.S. operations
Description:
Across the country, manufacturing and production are coming back to the United States. The reality is that large manufacturers need a diverse and nimble network of small suppliers. These suppliers make large companies more efficient, more productive and more globally competitive. A strong supply chain of small businesses can be a determining factor for locating production in a particular area. To build capacity and depth in America’s small business supply chain, the SBA continues its leadership role in the American Supplier Initiative, an Administration-wide effort focused on investing in — and building capacity throughout — the nation’s small business supply chain through: increased market access for small businesses; counseling and mentoring services to assist small suppliers; ready sources of capital to support sales, and; addressing the skills gap facing many small manufacturers and suppliers.
Agency Priority Goals
Statement:
Expand access to capital by adding 325 new and returning lenders to SBA’s flagship 7(a) program each fiscal year in FY2014-2015.
Description:
Providing access to capital has been one of the SBA’s critical strategies in meeting its objective to drive business formation, job growth and economic expansion particularly in underserved markets since the agency was created in 1953. By providing loan guarantees to reduce lenders’ loss exposure, the SBA provides an important credit lifeline to small businesses, especially startup businesses and businesses owned by women, minorities, veterans and other underserved groups who often cannot easily obtain credit in the conventional market. In the current economic conditions, SBA loan programs become even more crucial for ensuring that small businesses are not only surviving but also leading the way toward economic recovery and growth, as they have done time-and-time again throughout U.S. history.
SBA will increase small business access to capital by increasing the number of new or returning lenders in the fiscal year for the flagship 7(a) program (including the Community Advantage pilot program). New and returning lenders are a major component of SBA’s lending portfolio and are essential to growth in the quantity of loans approved and small businesses assisted. Each new or returning lender will expand SBA’s footprint and increase small business access to capital. Attaining a high volume of new and returning lenders from one fiscal year to the next will create a consistent pipeline of SBA loans into the hands of small business.
There are barriers and challenges to the SBA in achieving its priority goals:
- Economic Trends; micro and macro
- Issues within the Finance Industry as a whole
- Shrinking workforce in field offices which provide training
- Recent cases from the OIG reviewing SBA lenders underwriting criteria have triggered a more cautious approach from some lenders with some loan guaranty types
Statement:
Maximize small business participation in federal government contracting to meet the statutory goals and reduce participation by ineligible firms.
Description:
Congress has mandated that small businesses receive 23% of federal government prime contracting dollars, including 5% of prime and subcontracts to Small Disadvantage Businesses; 5% of prime and subcontracts to Women-Owned Small Businesses; 3% of prime and subcontracts to HUBZone Small Businesses; and 3% of prime and subcontracts to Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses
Meeting and exceeding the federal government’s small business procurement goals continues to be an Administration priority. Federal contracting with small businesses is a win-win. Small businesses get the revenue they need to grow their businesses and create jobs, and the federal government gets the opportunity to work with some of America’s most innovative and nimble small businesses, often times with a direct line to the CEO.
In FY 2012, the federal government made real progress toward the 23 percent goal, with 22.25 percent or $89.9 billion in federal contracting dollars going to small businesses compared to 21.65 percent in FY 2011, with significant impact in key areas:
- For the first time, more agencies than ever before met or surpassed all of their prime contracting goals.
- Also, for the first time, the federal government exceeded the goal for service disabled veterans.
- The federal government had the highest percentage of contracts going to Small Disadvantage Businesses to date.
As a result of a government wide focus on increasing small business contracting opportunities, during President Obama’s first term (FY2009 - FY2012) the federal government awarded $376.2 billion in federal contracting dollars to small businesses. This is a $48.1 billion increase over the four preceding years even as we have seen reduced spending overall.
Also, since President Obama took office, the SBA has supported more than $132.61 billion in Federal government contracting dollars to small disadvantaged businesses. This represents a 36.6 percent increase when compared to the prior Administration. Under the Bush Administration’s first term, $97.10 billion in federal government contracting dollars were awarded to small disadvantaged businesses.
Although we have seen marked success over the last few years, we know more must be done. Many challenges exist for small businesses seeking to enter the federal procurement marketplace.
- The unpredictable and changing budget climate is a challenge for small businesses, and SBA is working hard to create an environment where small businesses can be successful in the federal procurement marketplace.
- The instability and ambiguity caused by Continuing Resolutions make it difficult to agency acquisition staff to plan effectively for small business utilization.
- Entering the federal supply chain can often be a lengthy and arduous process for many small businesses.
SBA’s GCBD unit must implement effective and efficient strategies to monitor the agencies’ progress to goal, support small businesses interested in working with the government and encourage agencies to improve data quality when reporting their contracting activities. SBA will increase its efforts to collaborate with and hold federal agencies accountable to achieving their goals.
Statement:
Expand small business access to export financing by increasing the number of lenders providing export financing solutions from 430 to 555 and the number of small business exporters receiving financing through SBA loan programs from 1,346 to 1,480 by FY2015.
Description:
The priority goal is directly tied to the objective of both the National Export Initiative (NEI) and the Export Promotion Cabinet (EPC) to expand SME access to trade financing, which has been identified as a gap issue for smaller exporters. Increasing access to export financing, combined with trade counseling and training, will contribute to the enhanced ability of current and future U.S. small business exporters to succeed in the global marketplace and supports the cross-agency goal of doubling U.S. exports.
There are barriers and challenges to the SBA in achieving its priority goals:
- From a marketing perspective, communicating and disseminating trade financing information to lenders and small business exporters could provide challenging given current, and anticipated, budget constraints on staffing.
- Inter-agency collaboration and joint initiatives can be challenging to manage, given the differing regulations and performance metrics of individual agencies, which might reduce the commitment of other agencies to help support this priority.
- Unique, and sometimes additional, Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) requirements for core export loans vs. other 7(a) loan products can confuse lenders and may require the creation of “Lender Training Manuals,” more extensive lender training, and Office of Capital Access support in implementing needed SOP revisions.
- In terms of operations, a reduced travel budget could greatly restrict the ability of field staff to deliver the necessary training to lenders and businesses that would expand the use of SBA loan programs for exporters, given that SBA's specialized trade finance specialists cover multiple states.
- The banking sector could receive another “financial shock,” forcing it to tighten lending requirements to small businesses and/or Basel III capital requirements could limit lending capacity.*
- U.S. export growth could slow, reducing demand for trade financing, as a result of slow overseas economic growth and/or a strengthening of the U.S. dollar, making U.S. exports less competitive.
Trade financing historically has been perceived by many lenders, especially community banks, as being too complex to be incorporated into their suite of financial products. Working with other federal agencies, SBA will help reduce the complexity of USG trade financing and export marketing programs and highlight the growing importance of exports to the U.S. economy, thereby encouraging more lenders to offer comprehensive business solutions to their export customers. In addition, SBA will leverage its outreach by working with state, federal, and other resource partners in order to promote customized trade financing options to the small business exporting community.
Statement:
Increase the return rate for disaster survivor applications by 10 percent points from 24% to 34% return rate by September 30, 2015.
Description:
The FY13 baseline number for Disaster Loan Application Return Rate was 24%, so the goal for FY14 is to achieve 29% and 34% in FY15. Increasing the application return rate will improve the delivery of the Disaster Loan Program. The primary opportunity being addressed is that a higher application return rate should result in a greater number of disaster survivors that will apply for disaster loan assistance and receive much needed Federal disaster assistance. SBA’s plan to increase the application return rate also ensures that SBA's disaster assistance resources for businesses, non-profit organizations, homeowners, and renters can be deployed quickly, effectively and efficiently in order to preserve jobs and help return small businesses to operation.
SBA’s plan to increase the application return rate will indirectly make the Disaster Loan Program more efficient by: 1) saving costs on mailing application packets to 100% of disaster survivors referred to SBA; and 2) freeing up resources dedicated to preparing and mailing application packets that can be utilized in other critical areas of the application screening process that directly impact processing times.
Strategic Goal:
Serving as the voice for small business
Statement:
Serving as the Voice for Small Business
Strategic Objectives
Statement:
Ensure inclusive entrepreneurship by expanding access and opportunity to small businesses and entrepreneurs in communities where market gaps remain
Description:
Underserved communities – including women, low-income, minorities, veteran entrepreneurs – often have extreme difficulty in accessing capital, training, advising, and mentoring services and federal contracts. SBA’s unique approach to inclusive entrepreneurship provides products, services and programs that offer a path to business ownership for these populations that also suffer from disproportionately high levels of unemployment. The SBA will continue to work collaboratively with community development partners, credit unions, minority associations and others to tailor programs to meet their needs and ensure that SBA’s programs remain accessible to underserved communities.
Statement:
Lead and collaborate with other agencies to strengthen and streamline the delivery of programs, resources and services for small businesses.
Description:
The SBA is the voice of small business and works to advocate for the interests of small business owners and entrepreneurs across government agencies. In this capacity, the Agency takes a leadership role in ensuring effective delivery of federal small business programs and services, collaborating across a broad array of agencies. The Agency is a leading participant in interagency collaborations that focus on innovation, place-based and sector-based growth, government contracting, veterans and reservists, disaster recovery, access to capital for small business owners and entrepreneurial education. The SBA will continue to foster interagency collaborations that leverage and align Agency activities across the federal government to reach more small businesses more efficiently than ever before.
Statement:
Provide timely, instructive and useful information to the small business community through SBA’s extensive digital and in-person outreach efforts.
Description:
The SBA works to ensure that small business entrepreneurs can effectively access and navigate small business programs across the federal government. In an increasingly tech-driven economy, the SBA has taken significant steps to upgrade and enhance its website to better meet the needs of small businesses and give entrepreneurs more ways to access the Agency’s tools and resources. The SBA co-leads the BusinessUSA initiative with the Department of Commerce to provide small businesses with an easy-to-use, consolidated website and toll-free telephone number for the many government small business resources found in other agencies. The SBA leverages its nationwide network of field offices and resource partners to conduct outreach to hundreds of thousands of small business owners.
Statement:
Foster a small business-friendly environment by encouraging federal agency awareness about the impact of unfair regulatory enforcement and compliance efforts, reducing burdens on small business and improving small business research
Description:
The SBA plays a critical role in the Administration’s ongoing efforts to reduce regulatory barriers to entrepreneurship, innovation, and American competitiveness. As part of the Start-Up America initiative, government leaders met with more than 1,000 entrepreneurs across the country to talk about ways to reduce barriers for small business growth. These conversations continue to guide SBA policy and programmatic decisions. In addition, SBA’s National Ombudsman plays a key role in helping small business owners deal with specific regulatory burdens and challenges that result from federal agency processes. Furthermore, the SBA is focused on and committed to not only compiling internal SBA data to inform programmatic decisions, but also partnering with the key federal agencies to gather the most robust data sets to make informed policy.
Agency Priority Goals
Statement:
Expand access to capital by adding 325 new and returning lenders to SBA’s flagship 7(a) program each fiscal year in FY2014-2015.
Description:
Providing access to capital has been one of the SBA’s critical strategies in meeting its objective to drive business formation, job growth and economic expansion particularly in underserved markets since the agency was created in 1953. By providing loan guarantees to reduce lenders’ loss exposure, the SBA provides an important credit lifeline to small businesses, especially startup businesses and businesses owned by women, minorities, veterans and other underserved groups who often cannot easily obtain credit in the conventional market. In the current economic conditions, SBA loan programs become even more crucial for ensuring that small businesses are not only surviving but also leading the way toward economic recovery and growth, as they have done time-and-time again throughout U.S. history.
SBA will increase small business access to capital by increasing the number of new or returning lenders in the fiscal year for the flagship 7(a) program (including the Community Advantage pilot program). New and returning lenders are a major component of SBA’s lending portfolio and are essential to growth in the quantity of loans approved and small businesses assisted. Each new or returning lender will expand SBA’s footprint and increase small business access to capital. Attaining a high volume of new and returning lenders from one fiscal year to the next will create a consistent pipeline of SBA loans into the hands of small business.
There are barriers and challenges to the SBA in achieving its priority goals:
- Economic Trends; micro and macro
- Issues within the Finance Industry as a whole
- Shrinking workforce in field offices which provide training
- Recent cases from the OIG reviewing SBA lenders underwriting criteria have triggered a more cautious approach from some lenders with some loan guaranty types
Statement:
Maximize small business participation in federal government contracting to meet the statutory goals and reduce participation by ineligible firms.
Description:
Congress has mandated that small businesses receive 23% of federal government prime contracting dollars, including 5% of prime and subcontracts to Small Disadvantage Businesses; 5% of prime and subcontracts to Women-Owned Small Businesses; 3% of prime and subcontracts to HUBZone Small Businesses; and 3% of prime and subcontracts to Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses
Meeting and exceeding the federal government’s small business procurement goals continues to be an Administration priority. Federal contracting with small businesses is a win-win. Small businesses get the revenue they need to grow their businesses and create jobs, and the federal government gets the opportunity to work with some of America’s most innovative and nimble small businesses, often times with a direct line to the CEO.
In FY 2012, the federal government made real progress toward the 23 percent goal, with 22.25 percent or $89.9 billion in federal contracting dollars going to small businesses compared to 21.65 percent in FY 2011, with significant impact in key areas:
- For the first time, more agencies than ever before met or surpassed all of their prime contracting goals.
- Also, for the first time, the federal government exceeded the goal for service disabled veterans.
- The federal government had the highest percentage of contracts going to Small Disadvantage Businesses to date.
As a result of a government wide focus on increasing small business contracting opportunities, during President Obama’s first term (FY2009 - FY2012) the federal government awarded $376.2 billion in federal contracting dollars to small businesses. This is a $48.1 billion increase over the four preceding years even as we have seen reduced spending overall.
Also, since President Obama took office, the SBA has supported more than $132.61 billion in Federal government contracting dollars to small disadvantaged businesses. This represents a 36.6 percent increase when compared to the prior Administration. Under the Bush Administration’s first term, $97.10 billion in federal government contracting dollars were awarded to small disadvantaged businesses.
Although we have seen marked success over the last few years, we know more must be done. Many challenges exist for small businesses seeking to enter the federal procurement marketplace.
- The unpredictable and changing budget climate is a challenge for small businesses, and SBA is working hard to create an environment where small businesses can be successful in the federal procurement marketplace.
- The instability and ambiguity caused by Continuing Resolutions make it difficult to agency acquisition staff to plan effectively for small business utilization.
- Entering the federal supply chain can often be a lengthy and arduous process for many small businesses.
SBA’s GCBD unit must implement effective and efficient strategies to monitor the agencies’ progress to goal, support small businesses interested in working with the government and encourage agencies to improve data quality when reporting their contracting activities. SBA will increase its efforts to collaborate with and hold federal agencies accountable to achieving their goals.
Statement:
Increase the return rate for disaster survivor applications by 10 percent points from 24% to 34% return rate by September 30, 2015.
Description:
The FY13 baseline number for Disaster Loan Application Return Rate was 24%, so the goal for FY14 is to achieve 29% and 34% in FY15. Increasing the application return rate will improve the delivery of the Disaster Loan Program. The primary opportunity being addressed is that a higher application return rate should result in a greater number of disaster survivors that will apply for disaster loan assistance and receive much needed Federal disaster assistance. SBA’s plan to increase the application return rate also ensures that SBA's disaster assistance resources for businesses, non-profit organizations, homeowners, and renters can be deployed quickly, effectively and efficiently in order to preserve jobs and help return small businesses to operation.
SBA’s plan to increase the application return rate will indirectly make the Disaster Loan Program more efficient by: 1) saving costs on mailing application packets to 100% of disaster survivors referred to SBA; and 2) freeing up resources dedicated to preparing and mailing application packets that can be utilized in other critical areas of the application screening process that directly impact processing times.
Strategic Objectives
Strategic Objective:
Statement:
Ensure federal contracting goals are me and/or exceeded by collaborating across the federal government to expand opportunities for small businesses and strengthen the integrity of the federal contracting certification process and data.
Description:
Small business contracting is one of the most important federal programs to help America’s small businesses grow and create jobs. The federal government gets to work with the most innovative small businesses in America today, and small businesses get critical revenue to build and scale their operations. SBA’s goal is to make sure that all federal agencies meet or exceed their targets for federal prime contracting dollars awarded to small businesses. The SBA is improving coordination and communication across the federal government, facilitating matchmaking events, increasing online trainings and holding senior officials accountable for meeting their agencies’ small business goals. SBA continues to simplify access to federal contracting opportunities and educate small businesses on the contracting opportunities available to them. The SBA is also streamlining the certification process and data for federal contracting and continues to aggressively root out fraud, waste and abuse in small business contracting to ensure that contracting dollars go to deserving small businesses.
Agency Priority Goals
Statement: Through September 30, 2017, maximize small business participation in federal prime contracting to meet the statutory goal of 23%, ensure targets for subgoals are met, and reduce participation by ineligible firms.
Description: When a small business is awarded a government contract, the small business is often able to quickly create jobs and spur economic growth. The government agency often has a “direct line” to the CEO, helping ensure that products and services are meeting or exceeding expectations and serving America’s taxpayers. Also, underserved communities – including women, minorities, veterans and others – often have extreme difficulty in accessing federal contracting opportunities as market gaps remain. SBA’s unique contracting programs provide a path to business growth for these populations. Congress has mandated that small businesses receive 23% of federal government prime contracting dollars, including 5% of prime and subcontracts to Small Disadvantage Businesses; 5% of prime and subcontracts to Women-Owned Small Businesses; 3% of prime and subcontracts to HUBZone Small Businesses; and 3% of prime and subcontracts to Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses. Meeting and exceeding the federal government’s small business procurement goals continues to be an Administration priority. Federal contracting with small businesses is a win-win. Small businesses get the revenue they need to grow their businesses and create jobs, and the federal government gets the opportunity to work with some of America’s most innovative and nimble small businesses, often times with a direct line to the CEO. This Priority Goal directly supports SBA’s strategic objectives: Small businesses are agile, innovative and affordable partners for the federal government. Through small business contracting, the federal government acts as a catalyst for small business growth, innovation, and supports the national economic security of the nation. Congress designated SBA as the agency responsible for overseeing small business contracting across the federal government. The SBA takes this responsibility seriously as the strongest voice for small business across the Administration. Key barriers and challenges: SBA must continue to implement effective and efficient strategies to monitor the agencies’ progress, support small businesses interested in working with the government, and improve the data quality agencies use to manage their contracting activities.
Statement: By September 30, 2017, support more disadvantaged small businesses by increasing the number of approved 8(a)-certification applications by 5% each fiscal year, FY 2016 and FY 2017.
Description: The 8(a) Program is an essential instrument for helping socially and economically disadvantaged entrepreneurs gain access to the economic mainstream of American society. The program helps thousands of aspiring entrepreneurs to gain a foothold in government contracting. 8(a) firms are also provided with business development assistance and can participate in the Mentor Protégé Program to build their competitive and institutional know-how to participate in competitive acquisitions. A few years ago, the 8(a) Program boasted over 9,000 certified 8(a) participants, but has declined to less than 4,700 due to the administratively burdensome application process. Though the regulatory guidance provides the SBA approximately 90 days to process a complete application, several firms have endured delays that extend anywhere from 6 months to several years. Further, the SBA rate of approval for applicants that complete the application process is exceptionally low, under 50%. While over 2,000 applicants apply each year, the SBA rejects most applications as incomplete or missing documentation. Historically, only 25% of the applicants or about 500-600 applicants per year get through the burdensome process for a final decision from the Associate Administrator of the Office of 8(a) Business Development. The SBA’s low rate of approval has led to an industry of third party firms that charge socially and economically disadvantaged applicants anywhere from $5,000 to $75,000 to prepare the application and respond to the SBA processors. Some of these firms are taking advantage of applicants; and regardless of the amount paid, there is no guarantee of approval because the SBA approval rate is consistently less than 50%. This Priority Goal is designed to grow the 8(a) Program by improving customer service for the 8(a) applicants and reduce the unnecessary administrative burdens on applicant firms. Growth of the program will open opportunities for socially and economically disadvantaged entrepreneurs to gain a foothold in government contracting. The mission of the Office of Business Development is to execute activities authorized under Sections 8(a) and 7(j) of the Small Business Act to provide business development assistance to firms that are owned and controlled by economically and socially disadvantaged individuals. The office fulfills its mission by certifying the eligibility of prospective 8(a) business development firm participants and managing a national program that provides marketing, managerial, technical, and procurement assistance to help eligible businesses achieve their full competitive potential. The SBA will continue to work collaboratively with community development partners, credit unions, minority associations and others to tailor programs to meet their needs and ensure that SBA’s programs remain accessible to underserved communities. This Priority Goal directly supports SBA’s strategic objectives: The goals address the ongoing decline in number of 8(a) small businesses. Through 8(a) sole source and competitive contracting opportunities, the federal government acts as a catalyst for small business growth, innovation, job creation, and supports the national economic security of the nation. When a small business gets a government contract, the small business is often able to quickly create jobs and spur economic growth. The government agency often has a “direct line” to the CEO, helping ensure that products and services are meeting or exceeding expectations and serving America’s taxpayers. Key barriers and challenges: Many challenges exist for growing the 8(a) program and increasing the total number of application approvals for 8(a) firms. However, the SBA is committed to make smart, bold, and customer focused changes to make the 8(a) program accessible to all firms that meet the eligibility requirements of the program. Consistent measurement of progress and monitoring of implementation of new and streamlined procedures will be key to avoid reverting to historical trends of rejecting 50% of more of the completed applications. Challenges include: The SBA programs that contribute to this Agency Priority Goal are: Size Standards, Mentor-Protégé, 8(a) Business Development, 7(j) Technical Assistance.
Statement: Maximize small business participation in federal government contracting to meet the statutory goals and reduce participation by ineligible firms.
Description: Congress has mandated that small businesses receive 23% of federal government prime contracting dollars, including 5% of prime and subcontracts to Small Disadvantage Businesses; 5% of prime and subcontracts to Women-Owned Small Businesses; 3% of prime and subcontracts to HUBZone Small Businesses; and 3% of prime and subcontracts to Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses Meeting and exceeding the federal government’s small business procurement goals continues to be an Administration priority. Federal contracting with small businesses is a win-win. Small businesses get the revenue they need to grow their businesses and create jobs, and the federal government gets the opportunity to work with some of America’s most innovative and nimble small businesses, often times with a direct line to the CEO. In FY 2012, the federal government made real progress toward the 23 percent goal, with 22.25 percent or $89.9 billion in federal contracting dollars going to small businesses compared to 21.65 percent in FY 2011, with significant impact in key areas: As a result of a government wide focus on increasing small business contracting opportunities, during President Obama’s first term (FY2009 - FY2012) the federal government awarded $376.2 billion in federal contracting dollars to small businesses. This is a $48.1 billion increase over the four preceding years even as we have seen reduced spending overall. Also, since President Obama took office, the SBA has supported more than $132.61 billion in Federal government contracting dollars to small disadvantaged businesses. This represents a 36.6 percent increase when compared to the prior Administration. Under the Bush Administration’s first term, $97.10 billion in federal government contracting dollars were awarded to small disadvantaged businesses. Although we have seen marked success over the last few years, we know more must be done. Many challenges exist for small businesses seeking to enter the federal procurement marketplace. SBA’s GCBD unit must implement effective and efficient strategies to monitor the agencies’ progress to goal, support small businesses interested in working with the government and encourage agencies to improve data quality when reporting their contracting activities. SBA will increase its efforts to collaborate with and hold federal agencies accountable to achieving their goals.
Strategic Objective:
Statement:
Ensure inclusive entrepreneurship by expanding access and opportunity to small businesses and entrepreneurs in communities where market gaps remain
Description:
Underserved communities – including women, low-income, minorities, veteran entrepreneurs – often have extreme difficulty in accessing capital, training, advising, and mentoring services and federal contracts. SBA’s unique approach to inclusive entrepreneurship provides products, services and programs that offer a path to business ownership for these populations that also suffer from disproportionately high levels of unemployment. The SBA will continue to work collaboratively with community development partners, credit unions, minority associations and others to tailor programs to meet their needs and ensure that SBA’s programs remain accessible to underserved communities.
Agency Priority Goals
Statement: Expand access to capital by adding 325 new and returning lenders to SBA’s flagship 7(a) program each fiscal year in FY2014-2015.
Description: Providing access to capital has been one of the SBA’s critical strategies in meeting its objective to drive business formation, job growth and economic expansion particularly in underserved markets since the agency was created in 1953. By providing loan guarantees to reduce lenders’ loss exposure, the SBA provides an important credit lifeline to small businesses, especially startup businesses and businesses owned by women, minorities, veterans and other underserved groups who often cannot easily obtain credit in the conventional market. In the current economic conditions, SBA loan programs become even more crucial for ensuring that small businesses are not only surviving but also leading the way toward economic recovery and growth, as they have done time-and-time again throughout U.S. history. SBA will increase small business access to capital by increasing the number of new or returning lenders in the fiscal year for the flagship 7(a) program (including the Community Advantage pilot program). New and returning lenders are a major component of SBA’s lending portfolio and are essential to growth in the quantity of loans approved and small businesses assisted. Each new or returning lender will expand SBA’s footprint and increase small business access to capital. Attaining a high volume of new and returning lenders from one fiscal year to the next will create a consistent pipeline of SBA loans into the hands of small business. There are barriers and challenges to the SBA in achieving its priority goals:
Statement: Maximize small business participation in federal government contracting to meet the statutory goals and reduce participation by ineligible firms.
Description: Congress has mandated that small businesses receive 23% of federal government prime contracting dollars, including 5% of prime and subcontracts to Small Disadvantage Businesses; 5% of prime and subcontracts to Women-Owned Small Businesses; 3% of prime and subcontracts to HUBZone Small Businesses; and 3% of prime and subcontracts to Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses Meeting and exceeding the federal government’s small business procurement goals continues to be an Administration priority. Federal contracting with small businesses is a win-win. Small businesses get the revenue they need to grow their businesses and create jobs, and the federal government gets the opportunity to work with some of America’s most innovative and nimble small businesses, often times with a direct line to the CEO. In FY 2012, the federal government made real progress toward the 23 percent goal, with 22.25 percent or $89.9 billion in federal contracting dollars going to small businesses compared to 21.65 percent in FY 2011, with significant impact in key areas: As a result of a government wide focus on increasing small business contracting opportunities, during President Obama’s first term (FY2009 - FY2012) the federal government awarded $376.2 billion in federal contracting dollars to small businesses. This is a $48.1 billion increase over the four preceding years even as we have seen reduced spending overall. Also, since President Obama took office, the SBA has supported more than $132.61 billion in Federal government contracting dollars to small disadvantaged businesses. This represents a 36.6 percent increase when compared to the prior Administration. Under the Bush Administration’s first term, $97.10 billion in federal government contracting dollars were awarded to small disadvantaged businesses. Although we have seen marked success over the last few years, we know more must be done. Many challenges exist for small businesses seeking to enter the federal procurement marketplace. SBA’s GCBD unit must implement effective and efficient strategies to monitor the agencies’ progress to goal, support small businesses interested in working with the government and encourage agencies to improve data quality when reporting their contracting activities. SBA will increase its efforts to collaborate with and hold federal agencies accountable to achieving their goals.
Strategic Objective:
Mitigate risk to taxpayers and improve oversight across SBA programs.
Statement:
Mitigate risk to taxpayers and improve oversight across SBA programs.
Description:
Taxpayers, including entrepreneurs and small business owners, expect that their tax dollars are being used wisely. SBA programs give taxpayers a strong “bang for the buck,” and the Agency will continue to find ways to mitigate risk while ensuring that small businesses have access to and fully benefit from its programs. With an outstanding loan portfolio of over $100 billion, oversight of small businesses’ eligibility in tens of billions of government contract set-asides, a network of hundreds of grantee partners delivering counseling and training to over a million clients a year, and direct fiscal responsibility for the annual budget, the SBA has an extraordinary responsibility to taxpayers to mitigate risk and conduct oversight of its programs.
Agency Priority Goals
Statement: Maximize small business participation in federal government contracting to meet the statutory goals and reduce participation by ineligible firms.
Description: Congress has mandated that small businesses receive 23% of federal government prime contracting dollars, including 5% of prime and subcontracts to Small Disadvantage Businesses; 5% of prime and subcontracts to Women-Owned Small Businesses; 3% of prime and subcontracts to HUBZone Small Businesses; and 3% of prime and subcontracts to Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses Meeting and exceeding the federal government’s small business procurement goals continues to be an Administration priority. Federal contracting with small businesses is a win-win. Small businesses get the revenue they need to grow their businesses and create jobs, and the federal government gets the opportunity to work with some of America’s most innovative and nimble small businesses, often times with a direct line to the CEO. In FY 2012, the federal government made real progress toward the 23 percent goal, with 22.25 percent or $89.9 billion in federal contracting dollars going to small businesses compared to 21.65 percent in FY 2011, with significant impact in key areas: As a result of a government wide focus on increasing small business contracting opportunities, during President Obama’s first term (FY2009 - FY2012) the federal government awarded $376.2 billion in federal contracting dollars to small businesses. This is a $48.1 billion increase over the four preceding years even as we have seen reduced spending overall. Also, since President Obama took office, the SBA has supported more than $132.61 billion in Federal government contracting dollars to small disadvantaged businesses. This represents a 36.6 percent increase when compared to the prior Administration. Under the Bush Administration’s first term, $97.10 billion in federal government contracting dollars were awarded to small disadvantaged businesses. Although we have seen marked success over the last few years, we know more must be done. Many challenges exist for small businesses seeking to enter the federal procurement marketplace. SBA’s GCBD unit must implement effective and efficient strategies to monitor the agencies’ progress to goal, support small businesses interested in working with the government and encourage agencies to improve data quality when reporting their contracting activities. SBA will increase its efforts to collaborate with and hold federal agencies accountable to achieving their goals.
