Jane Edwards
The federal government got an “A” on the governmentwide scorecard for exceeding its small business contracting goal of 23 percent in fiscal year 2021 by awarding $154.2 billion or 27.2 percent of total contract dollars to small enterprises.
The Small Business Administration said Tuesday the federal contract funds awarded to small businesses reflect an increase of $8 billion from FY 2020.
The federal government awarded 11 percent of contract funds to small disadvantaged businesses; 4.6 percent to women-owned companies; and 4.4 percent to service-disabled veteran-owned businesses.
Agencies failed to meet the 3 percent contracting goal for Historically Underutilized Business Zone small businesses, awarding only 2.53 percent or $14.3 billion of total eligible dollars for FY 2021.
Small business contractors received 30.9 percent or $72 billion in federal contract awards, exceeding the 29.36 percent goal.
According to the scorecard, 11 agencies received an “A+” grade for meeting their small business contracting goals, 10 agencies earned an “A” grade, two agencies got a “B” and one agency obtained a “C.”
“The Biden-Harris Administration set historic records in small business contracting, including the highest percentage spend to Small Disadvantaged Businesses and growth for our Service-disabled Veteran Small Businesses, which has advanced competition, strengthened local economies, and supported job growth across the nation,” said SBA Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman.
