Small business contracts: Digging into agencies' performance
The percentage of contracts going to small businesses varies widely from agency to agency -- and the patterns for specific small-business types are even more interesting.
The federal government awarded 24.99 percent ($91.1 billion) of its annual budget to small business contractors in FY 2014, marking its highest percentage since 1997, according to a PR Newswire press release.
In accordance with the federal government's goal for small business spending (23 percent), the Small Business Association compiles contracting data and releases its assessment each year to ensure agencies are meeting their goals. Of the 24 grades assigned for FY 2014, 17 received an A and 3 received an A+--including USAID, the Department of Commerce and the Department of Homeland Security)--where grades are derived from an assessment of prime contracts, subcontracts and the agency's plan for meeting future goals.
Women owned and disadvantaged businesses together accounted for over half of the small business contracts awarded in FY 2014, and agencies' performance increased across all five prime and socio-economic categories over FY 2013.
The following data has been ranked from highest to lowest in accordance with the SBA's Scorecard Summary. In all cases where the charts appear misaligned (e.g. 35.52% appears greater than 36.67%), this is due to a scale adjustment that allows data under two percent to render their numerical component within the chart.
Government-Wide Small Business Spending (FY 2014)
- Small Disadvantaged Businesses
- Women Owned Small Businesses
- Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business
- HUB Zone
- Excess*
*Excess was calculated from the difference between each agency's total small business spending and the four categories provided within the report, including: small disadvantaged businesses, women owned small businesses, service disabled veteran owned small businesses and HUB Zone.
Agency Performance Breakdown
Small Business Administration**
Department of Interior**
Department of Agriculture**
Department of Transportation
Department of State
Department of Commerce
Environmental Protection Agency
Department of Housing and Urban Development
General Services Administration
Social Security Administration
Department of Treasury
Department of Labor
Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Department of Homeland Security
Department of Veterans Affairs
Department of Justice
Department of Education
Department of Defense
Office of Personnel Management
Department of Health & Human Services
Agency for International Development
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
National Science Foundation
Department of Energy
Source: PR Newswire's "Federal Government Achieves Small Business Procurement Contracting Goal for Second Consecutive Year"