Government agencies once again set new records almost across the board for small business contract amounts in fiscal year 2023. New data from the Small Business Administration shows the agency awarded a record 28.4% of all eligible federal contracts to small businesses.
At the same time, SBA's new Small Business Scorecard data shows the agency is meeting or exceeding government-wide goals in three of five socioeconomic categories, including small businesses owned by service-disabled veterans. It shows.
Last year, government agencies awarded a total of $178.6 billion to small businesses, an increase of $15.7 billion from 2022. The government-wide small business contracting target is 23%. Lawmakers on the House Small Business Committee recently passed a bill that would increase that goal to 25%.
23rd year PRime contracts in dollars and percentages for all categories*:
| Category | goal | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | |||
| $(B) | % | $(B) | % | $(B) | % | ||
| small business | 26.02% | $154.2 | 27.23% | $162.9 | 26.50% | $178.6 | 28.35% |
| disadvantaged small and medium enterprises | 10.54% | $62.4 | 11.01% | $69.9 | 11.38% | $76.2 | 12.10% |
| Small businesses owned by service-disabled veterans | 4.28% | $25.0 | 4.41% | $28.1 | 4.57% | $31.9 | 5.07% |
| Small businesses run by women | 4.85% | $26.2 | 4.63% | $28.1 | 4.57% | $30.9 | 4.91% |
| hub zone | 2.44% | $14.3 | 2.53% | $16.3 | 2.65% | $17.5 | 2.78% |
- In accordance with federal law, the SBA provided dual credit for the award of prime contracts in affected areas as secured as local areas. SBA also includes the Department of Energy's primary subcontracts, which are required to be included in Section 318 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2014 (“CAA”), Public Law 113-76, in its government-wide performance calculations.
Overall, the SBA said 10 institutions earned an “A+” rating on the scorecard, and two others received an “A” rating. This includes the SBA, the departments of Agriculture, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Homeland Security, Commerce, and the National Science Foundation. General Services Administration, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Office of Personnel Management.
The White House and SBA recognized small business contracting achievements at a roundtable today and during National Small Business Week, which began yesterday.
As part of the 2023 Scorecard, the SBA also released contract data broken down by employer race and ethnicity. This shows that companies owned by historically underrepresented groups make more money through federal contracts across all categories. The agency disbursed $76.2 billion to disadvantaged small businesses, exceeding the Biden administration's 12% goal and reaching a record high. The White House has set a 15% goal for 2025.
“This marks the third consecutive record-breaking award for SDB under President Biden and puts the administration on track to meet the President’s goal of increasing federal contract dollars for SDB by 50% by 2025.” The White House stated in the facts. Sheets released today.
For example, African American-owned businesses received $10.2 billion in federal contracts in 2023, an $800 million increase over 2022. Meanwhile, Hispanic American-owned businesses saw their overall contract value increase by $943 million to $10.9 billion last year.
Federal contract dollars for minority-owned small businesses in fiscal year 2023:
| Demographic categories | FY20 | FY21 | FY22 | 23rd year | Dollar increase under the Biden-Harris administration (FY2020-FY23) |
| black american | $9.4 billion | 9 billion dollars | $9.5 billion | $10.2 billion | 800 million dollars |
| hispanic american | 10 billion dollars | $10.3 billion | $10.6 billion | $10.9 billion | $943 million |
| asian american | $6.9 billion | 7 billion dollars | 7.5 billion dollars | 9 billion dollars | $2.1 billion |
| subcontinent asian american | $8.7 billion | $9.5 billion | $10.2 billion | $11.5 billion | $2.8 billion |
| native american | $15.1 billion | $17.4 billion | $19 billion | $23.3 billion | $8.2 billion |
In addition to meeting the SDB goal, the SBA said the agency also exceeded the service-disabled veteran-owned small business goal of 3 percent. The agency awarded $31.9 billion to these companies, representing 5.07% of all contracts.
It also marks the first time the agency has reached its goal for women-owned small business awards by less than 1%, yet awarded $30.9 billion to these businesses.
In addition to main contracts, the agency exceeded targets in ensuring small businesses received subcontracts. According to the SBA, 33.34% of the amount paid to subcontractors went to small businesses, exceeding the total goal of $86.4 billion by more than 2%.
Unlike the prime contract, the agency failed to achieve all of the socio-economic objectives under the subcontract, with the exception of women-owned small and medium-sized enterprises. The goal for small businesses owned by women was 5% and the agency met her 5.65%, but the goals for small businesses owned by SDB, HUBZone and service-disabled veterans were not met. .
This latest scorecard comes as members of the House and Senate are calling on the SBA to hold the agency more accountable for small business contracts. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Ranking Member of the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee, introduced accountability and accountability in contracts with small suppliers and small businesses last September to revamp the goal structure. Introduced the ACCESS Act.
Lawmakers on the House Small Business Committee also introduced legislation earlier this month, including requiring agents to use plain language when drafting contracts and increasing transparency in agents' decisions to cancel small business contracts. Passed multiple bills to address long-standing concerns.
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