SMALL BUSINESS: Status of Small Disadvantaged Business Certifications

摘要

The federal government, by statute, has an annual, governmentwide procurement goal of at least 5 percent for small disadvantaged businesses (SDB). SDBs are eligible for various price and evaluation benefits when being considered for federal contract awards. Recently, SDB firms are required to receive certification of their status as an SDB from the Small Business Administration (SBA) in order to receive these benefits and for agencies to be able to count contracts awarded to these firms toward their SDB goals. In your capacity as Chairman of the Subcommittee on Government Management, Information, and Technology, House Committee on Government Reform and as a Member of the Subcommittee, you requested that we provide information on the status of SDB certifications under the new Small Disadvantaged Business Certification (SDBC) program. You were concerned about reports that there were fewer businesses receiving SDB certification than expected. As agreed with your office, the objectives were to (1) determine the number of businesses that SBA had certified as socially and economically disadvantaged since the implementation of the SDBC program and (2) obtain views on reasons for the difference, if any, in the number of SDB certifications from the number that had previously self-certified as SDBs.