Small Business Finance News
Small Businesses Awarded More Federal Contracts In 2010
Written by Jenna Weiner
Published: 6/27/2011
Federal contracts were awarded to more small businesses in 2010 than 2009.
Federal contracting to small businesses increased significantly between 2009 and 2010, according to the annual Small Business Administration scorecard released last week.
Small businesses won 22.66 of prime government contracts in 2010, compared to 21.89 percent in 2009. Subcontracting improved even more. In 2009, 31.82 percent of government subcontractors were small businesses, which went up to 35.4 percent last year.
While these numbers represent good news for small business as a whole, some types of small businesses are still not winning many federal contracts. Businesses owned by women and service disabled veterans were underrepresented in the government contracting pool, as were those located in Historically Underutilized Business Zones.
With a numeric score of 99.2 out of 150, the government received a scorecard grade of B for its overall performance. However, with a 99.73 score for its prime contracting achievement, the government was very close to earning an A in this area.
According to the U.S. Office of Budget Management, $246 billion of contracts have been awarded by the government so far this year. The Department of Defense is the biggest contractor, at $154.3 billion, with the Department of Energy coming in next, at $17.3 billion.
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