GSA forms small-business committee

The General Services Administration has created a Small Business Advisory Committee to provide GSA's Associate Administrator for Small Business Utilization, Felipe Mendoza, with guidance on small business issues.

The committee's purpose is to provide information and advice that will help GSA enhance the ability of small businesses to take part in federal contracting. The committee will also work to identify issues that hold small businesses back, and to provide feedback on the impact of legislation and regulations.

"We contemplate [having] two in-person meetings per year and some teleconferences, number unknown," said Denis Peck, a program analyst in GSA's Office of Small Business Utilization.

The initial proposed membership includes five small business officials and six representatives of business trade groups. The first meeting is set for Sept. 1 in Phoenix, Ariz.

That meeting will coincide with a GSA conference on small business procurement taking place there. Future meetings will be held both in Washington, D.C., and nationwide, Peck said.

Peck said the committee's Web site is not established yet, but will be within 30 days.