Small Business Administration staff advocate, review, and monitor small business contracting at federal agencies, but resource constraints have limited the ability of staff to carry out those responsibilities, GAO has said after reviewing agency guidance, inspector general reports, and interviewing SBA officials and others, as well as visiting agency locations.
SBA reviews prior year goal achievement and other factors to set individual contracting goals necessary for federal agencies to achieve the government-wide goal of awarding 23 percent of federal contract dollars to small businesses, according to GAO-09-16.
It said the agency’s procurement center reps work with federal agencies by reviewing proposed acquisitions, recommending contract set-asides, and performing surveillance reviews.
However, as of August 2008, SBA had just 59 PCRs, with many responsible for multiple agencies. While it has recognized that more PCRs are needed, it has not developed a formal plan to align staff resources with program objectives, GAO said.
It said resource constraints also affected SBA’s commercial market representatives, who monitor subcontracting plans.
For fiscal year 2006, the SBA IG reported that CMRs monitored less than half of the 2,200 large prime contractors, and resource constraints reduced assurances that SBA can monitor contracting effectively, according to the report.
It concluded that SBA’s administration of its 8a business development program, for socially and economically disadvantaged small businesses, is challenged by several factors, including some participants not understanding the program’s purpose and requirements, its staff’s diminished ability to conduct business development activities, an inefficient process to terminate firms, and a lack of routine surveillance reviews specific to the program.
