A new law designed to bring more federal government contracts to small businesses has recently been signed by President Obama as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013. The new law helps small companies compete for more federal contracts by making small business contracting performance a part of employee reviews for senior agency officials. Put simply, an agency’s failure to award enough agency contracts to small businesses will hurt agency officials’ bonuses and chances of promotion.
Small businesses have been pushing this type of legislation for some time, citing statistics such as the federal government’s failure to meet its small business contracting goals for eleven straight years. Lawmakers and officials expect that this new law will be very effective in increasing the number of federal contracts that go to small businesses because this is the first time there has been a formal incentive to encourage agencies to deliver on their annual promise to small businesses.
“The small business provisions in the NDAA will help make sure existing small business goals are actually met, empower small business advocates, and crack down on fraud,” Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.) said in a statement. He went on to add that he expects the changes to “help small businesses compete in the federal marketplace, bring efficiency and cost-savings to the taxpayer, and create jobs while doing it.”
The General Services Administration has also recently rolled out a new program to help small technology firms break into the contracting market and streamline the purchasing process for procurement officials across all agencies. The new program is called the “National Information Technology Commodity Program” and through it, the federal government has recently awarded 43 large contracts to small businesses, including women- and veteran-owned companies.
If you are a small, women-owned, minority-owned or veteran-owned business, contact the Anwari Law Firm at info@businessandimmigrationlaw.com or (703) 348-8448 to learn more about certification programs that can help your business compete against larger companies to win state and federal government contracts.
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posted on: January 23, 2013