CVBT: "McCain or Obama: Same old, same old for small business"

Today, the Central Valley Business Times ran an interview with the President of the American Small Business League, Lloyd Chapman. The interview was published in conjunction with an article, which covered the Presidential candidates and their respective small business platforms, as well as the continued diversion of small business contracts to large corporations. According to Chapman, thus far both candidates have failed to address major issues within the federal government's contracting system.

Summing up the ASBL's main issue Chapman stated, "You've got this pool of around $150 billion in federal contracts that's supposed to be going to middle class firms and small businesses. And yet because there's really no one to defend it, you've got Fortune 500 corporations trying to raid it."

The federal government has a goal of awarding 23 percent of the total value of all prime and subcontracts to small businesses. However, the federal government is not hitting that goal. Due to problems within the Small Business Administration (SBA) as well as within the federal procurement system as a whole, federal agencies are counting contracts awarded to Fortune 500 corporations towards the federal government's small business procurement goal.

In Report 5-15, the SBA Office of Inspector General stated, "One of the most important challenges facing the Small Business Administration (SBA) and the entire Federal Government today is that large businesses are receiving small business procurement awards and agencies are receiving credit for these awards."

The ASBL estimates that between 50 and 86 percent of all federal contracts intended for small businesses are awarded to large businesses. According to that estimation, small businesses could be missing out on $60 to $100 billion every year.

With a problem this big, one would think both Obama and McCain would be making the small business community a priority.

To listen to the interview and read the full article please click here: http://www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com/stories/001/?ID=9743

Comments

[Heavenhelpusall]

One focus of small business shoud be the re-tooling of Americans. Computer literacy, clean jobs, even second languages are a start.