SDBs include women-owned small businesses, service-disabled veteran owned small businesses, and small business contractors in HUBZones. Image: Mark Van Scyoc/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffOMB has issued guidance for fiscal 2023 on complying with a Biden administration order telling agencies to make federal contracting and procurement opportunities more readily available to all eligible vendors and to remove barriers faced by underserved individuals and communities.
Memo M-23-01 notes that a 2021 executive order set a goal of increasing to 15 percent by fiscal 2025 the percentage of contracting and procurement actions for “small disadvantaged businesses” (SDBs).Those include women-owned small businesses, service-disabled veteran owned small businesses, and small business contractors in HUBZones (historically underutilized business zones).
It says that agencies “awarded a record $62.4 billion to SDBs in FY 2021, totaling 11.01 percent of all contracting dollars” and meeting the 11 percent goal for fiscal 2022 a year ahead of schedule.
“For FY 2023, each of the Chief Financial Officers Act agencies and SBA must negotiate SDB contracting goals that will allow the federal government to cumulatively award at least 12 percent of federal contract spending to SDBs. Agencies and SBA will build upon last year’s agency goals and consider their recent levels of SDB prime contracting to allocate the government’s increase to 12 percent among the various agencies,” it says.
It adds that the administration will continue to carry out procurement equity initiatives outlined in the order and previous guidance. “Efforts will focus on lowering barriers to entry and creating opportunities for all socioeconomic small businesses . . . so that these entities may compete effectively for federal contracts,” it says.
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