MBRT to White House: Increase Contracts for Small and Minority Businesses

Government Fails Again to Meet Goals; MBRT Offers Recommendations

WASHINGTON, Sept. 26, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- With the federal government's failure to meet its 23% small business goals again and every year since the goals were enacted and the federal government poised to spend approximately $120 billion in the fourth quarter, the government should prioritize and focus on spending more with small and minority businesses, the Minority Business RoundTable said in a recent letter to President Obama.

MBRT called on the White House to do more and increase contracts with small and minority business set-asides for SDBs, SDVOSBs, HUBZone and WOSBEs which are not receiving their fair share of the federal procurement pie.  Too many contracts (about 80%) are going to large businesses under contract bundling or existing IDIQ and GSA Schedule contracting vehicles that exclude small and minority businesses.  

In a recent published article in the Federal Times, Roger A. Campos, CEO of the MBRT commented that this is especially troublesome as the American Small Business League reported that they may have found $8.8 billion as being counted as "small businesses" in the federal agencies small business numbers. The Fairness in Procurement Alliance also cited that agencies did not certify their numbers as being accurate. So the reality is that the government may have under represented its small business and set-aside contracting statistics by almost 10%.

"That's about $10 billion lost. Just think if there were a 1% increase, it would translate into $6 billion out of the $600 billion the government buys annually from businesses. If the government would prioritize this small business and set-aside sector for increased contracts, the U.S. economy would see a positive growth impact and these businesses would create jobs and restore confidence in the financial and consumer marketplace," Campos said.

About the Minority Business RoundTable:

The Minority Business RoundTable is the only national non-profit organization for CEOs of the nation's leading African-American, Asian-American, Hispanic-American, Native-American and other minority-owned businesses. Its members analyze and help formulate effective public policies that impact minority-owned business.  Our corporate members work to create sustainable communities and national economic viability through successful partnerships. For more information on the Minority Business RoundTable, please visit www.mbrt.net.

SOURCE Minority Business RoundTable