MHEDA Journal examines misappropriated small business contracts.
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Press Release Summary:
On the Edge feature of The MHEDA Journal Online looks at why Fortune 500 companies appear to be receiving federal contracting dollars normally set aside for small businesses. Cited possible causes within this article include lax small business contract procurement rule enforcement and ASBL's accusation that Obama's administration has inflated percentage of small business contracts via combination of under-reporting and inappropriate contract inclusion.
Original Press Release:
How Fortune 500 Companies are Fulfilling Small Business Contracts
The MHEDA Journal Online examines government contracts for small businesses.
Dewitt, NY: The MHEDA Journal Online (http://www.TheMhedaJournal.org), is the leading online magazine for the forklift, conveyor, storage & handling, and general material handling equipment industries. As part of its continued commitment to highlighting the biggest and most important issues in the material handling industry, The MHEDA Journal website has a feature called "On the Edge" for discussing hot-button industry issues.
Every year, the government sets aside a portion of federal contracting dollars for small businesses as a way of encouraging job growth. Many MHEDA members rely on these small business contracts to level the playing field for federal contracts. To qualify for these dollars, a business must qualify as small under the procurement guidelines. So why, then, would Lockheed Martin, General Electric, AT&T and other Fortune 500 companies appear among those receiving small business dollars?
The Small Business Administration (SBA) recently reported that $97.95 billion in federal contracts went to small businesses in Fiscal Year 2010. That number represents a 22.7 percent share of eligible government contracting dollars. However, if you ask the American Small Business League, the real number is close to five percent. "The ASBL maintains that the Obama Administration has dramatically inflated the percentage of contracts awarded to small businesses by under-reporting the actual federal acquisition budget, and by including billions of dollars in contracts awarded to large businesses," says an ASBL press release.
The SBA stated in a May 11, 2007 press release that "Large businesses taking contracts that have been set aside for small business isn't a real factor."
A distributor in Baltimore, MD, who has extensive experience with small business contracts, says, "The rules are largely self-enforced. A procurement officer does not need to investigate whether the successful awardee on a small business set-aside is actually small unless he has a reason to suspect that it's not. It is up to contractors to know the regulations and point out any possible violations." Protesting a competing bidder's size status can require additional time and resources that most small businesses don't have.
To learn more about how Fortune 500 companies are winning small business set-asides, read the entire article in The MHEDA Journal Online.
http://www.themhedajournal.org/index.php/2011/09/on-the-shoulders-of-giant-corporations/. The MHEDA Journal is published quarterly, in January, April, July and October. For more information, contact Steve Guglielmo, content editor of The MHEDA Journal, (315) 445-2347, email: steve@datakey.org.
About MHEDA
Founded in 1954, the Material Handling Equipment Distributors Association (MHEDA) is the premier source for manufacturing knowledge, education and networking. Through its member journals (www.TheMhedaJournal.org), e-magazines, newsletters and industry wiki (www.wikimheda.org), MHEDA connects the manufacturers of storage & handling, lift trucks and conveyor equipment and distribution leaders for the purpose of delivering optimal solutions to the users of those products. MHEDA publications are the industry's voice for all matters related to the latest technology and the most up-to-date processes spanning the movement and storage of all materials. A 501(c)3 organization, MHEDA members span all of North America.
