White House Abruptly Cancels Small Business Event over Fraud Controversy

PETALUMA, Calif., May 12, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Obama Administration confirmed that SBA Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet was going to announce they exceeded the government's 23% small business contracting goal at a White House even scheduled for the final day of National Small Business Week. The event which was scheduled for Friday afternoon, May 8, was abruptly canceled after journalists began to suggest the data might have been fabricated.

The American Small Business League (ASBL) has accused the Small Business Administration of falsifying their annual small business contracting numbers for over a decade. Now Public Citizen and long time Washington Business Journal journalist Kent Hoover have joined the ASBL in challenging the accuracy of the SBA's annual Small Business Procurement Scorecard. 

Hoover released a story on Friday that reported shortly after he contacted the SBA Thursday afternoon and requested a list of the top 100 recipients of federal small business contracts for 2014, the SBA announced the event was abruptly canceled. Obama Administration officials may have panicked over the possibility Hoover would be asking the SBA Administrator to explain why Fortune 500 firms continued to be included in the SBA's small business contracting data for over 15 years.

A series of federal investigations and investigative reports in the media have found every year for over a decade the SBA has included billions of dollars in contracts to Fortune 500 firms and their subsidiaries in their annul small business contracting data. 

Hoover's inquiry came on the heels of an investigative report by government watchdog group, Public Citizen, which found the SBA's small business contracting numbers had been fabricated and significantly inflated. The Public Citizen report was based heavily on research done by the California based American Small Business League and interviews with the group's President Lloyd Chapman.

Public Citizen Research Director, Taylor Lincoln, acknowledged SBA Press Office Director Terry Sutherland refused to speak with him over the phone or respond to any questions as to why Fortune 500 firms continued to receive federal small business contracts. Sutherland also refused to explain the SBA's excuse that "miscoding" has diverted small business contracts to Fortune 500 firms for over 15 years or provide the provisions of the Small Business Act the SBA uses to justify their "exclusionary rule" or their "five year rule."  

"It's obvious the White House completely panicked at the possibility that for the first time in history an SBA Administrator might have to actually explain why the SBA has cheated American small businesses out of billions for over 15 years by diverting federal small business contracts to Fortune 500 firms. I still expect President Obama will attempt to close the SBA to cover up this blatant fraud," stated ASBL President Lloyd Chapman.

It is unclear if and when the White House will reschedule the event.      

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SOURCE American Small Business League

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