The Small Business Administration has launched an array of new initiatives in recent months aimed at boosting small businesses in the U.S., and the efforts appear to be working. The SBA announced Wednesday (July 1) that for the second year in a row, the group reached its goal to connect SMEs with federal contractors.
Reports aid that the government awarded nearly 25 percent of all of its contracts to small businesses – the highest percentage ever since the goal of 23 percent was first set in 1997.
Those government deals amounted to $91.1 billion landing in the hands of small businesses this past fiscal year, $8 billion more than was seen from the year prior, FY2013.
“We’re celebrating the federal government’s best year ever for small business contracting and it’s a testament to the world-class services that America’s entrepreneurs are providing their government across every federal agency,’ said SBA Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet at a press conference held at the Pentagon. “President Obama prioritized procurement at the highest levels of his administration and we’ve set a new government-wide standard as a result.”
The remarks were made alongside Frank Kendall, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics at the Department of Defense, which scored an “A” on its procurement scorecard.
The announcement was made in conjunction with the release of the SBA’s FY2014 Small Business Procurement Scorecard, which grates government agencies on their awarding of contracts to small businesses. Overall, reports said, the government received an “A” for its small business contract efforts.
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The SBA dodged a bullet earlier this year when the Senate voted to increase the agency’s small business lending cap to $20.5 billion just months before it nearly reached its limit of $18.75 billion.
As of late-April, more than $11.4 billion in small business loans had been awarded by the SBA that fiscal year, reports said.
