A bigger Voice for Small Business

Details of Obama Small Business Conference Remain a Mystery

by | Nov 4, 2009 | Press Release

Press Release

Details of Obama Small Business Conference Remain a Mystery

November 4, 2009

Petaluma, Calif. – Two weeks after President Barack Obama announced a special conference to discuss increasing the flow of credit to small businesses, no information about the date, time, location or attendees has been made available.

The American Small Business League (ASBL) is skeptical about the true purpose of the conference.  The ASBL predicts that the actual purpose of the meeting will be to try and change the long standing federal definition of a small business as "independently owned" to include firms owned by wealthy venture capitalists that backed President Obama's campaign.

"If this conference does take place, I doubt there will be one person in the room like myself who has a documentable track record of fighting for legitimate small businesses.  I'm sure there will be sham small business groups that are actually backed by the Fortune 500 corporations that are currently receiving most federal small business contracts.  There will also be a significant number of venture capitalists that are trying to highjack federal small business programs," ASBL President Lloyd Chapman said.

The ASBL is concerned that not only will the conference not help small businesses, but a proposal may even come out of the conference to close the SBA under the guise of bolstering the agency by combining it with the U.S. Department of Commerce.  In the past, combining small agencies with the Commerce Department has been a technique used in Washington by previous administrations to quietly close agencies.  The Minority Business Development Agency was essentially closed in this way.

If President Obama wants to help small businesses he needs to make good on his campaign promise to, "end the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants." http://www.barackobama.com/2008/02/26/the_american_small_business_le.php The best way to do that is for him to pass H.R. 2568, the Fairness and Transparency in Contacting Act of 2009.  This bill would redirect over $100 billion a year in current federal infrastructure spending to the middle class firms where nearly all new jobs are created. https://www.asbl.com/documents/hr2568.pdf  

According to the most recent data released by the Obama Administration billions of dollars in federal small business contracts have been diverted to firms like: Textron, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, British Aerospace (BAE), Rolls-Royce and French firm Thales Communications. https://www.asbl.com/documents/20090825TopSmallBusinessContractors2008.pdf  

In February of 2009, Obama officials awarded a $128 million small business contract to, Fortune 500 firm, Bechtel Bettis Inc. https://www.asbl.com/documents/20090806BechtelSB_DOE.pdf   

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Questions for SBA Administrator Karen Mills from the American Small Business League

by | Nov 2, 2009 | Press Release

Press Release

Questions for SBA Administrator Karen Mills from the American Small Business League

November 2, 2009

Petaluma, Calif. – In February of 2008, President Obama released the statement, "It is time to end the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants."   Every year since 2006, the Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General (SBA OIG) has released a report, which listed the agency's #1 management challenge as, "Procurement flaws allow large firms to obtain small business awards and agencies to count contracts performed by large firms towards their small business goals." 
 
Since 2003, over 15 federal investigations have found that billions of dollars a year in federal small business contracts are diverted to some of the largest corporations in the world. The most recent statistics released by the Obama Administration indicate that hundreds of Fortune 500 corporations, their subsidiaries and other large businesses were included in the government's fiscal year (FY) 2008 small business contracting data. (https://www.asbl.com/documents/20090825TopSmallBusinessContractors2008.pdf)  
 
Firms that received federal small business contracts included: Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon, GTSI, L-3 Communications, British Aerospace (BAE), Northrop Grumman, Booz Allen Hamilton, Thales, General Dynamics, 3M, Hewlett-Packard, AT&T, Rolls-Royce and Dell Computer.
 
Despite the fact that the diversion of federal small business contracts to large corporations is the SBA's #1 challenge, Administrator Karen Mills has refused to mention the issue or adopt any policies to address it. The American Small Business League (ASBL) believes it is time for someone in the media to question Ms. Mills about the Obama Administration's refusal to address this pressing issue. 
 
- Will the Obama Administration support federal legislation or policy that would allow wealthy venture capitalists to participate in federal small business contracting programs?
 
- Considering the fact that America is in the midst of its worst economic downturn in 80 years, why is the Obama Administration continuing to allow contracts to Fortune 500 firms to be counted as small business awards?
 
- Will any contracts to Fortune 500 corporations and their subsidiaries be included in the government's small business contracting statistics for FY 2009?
 
- Why hasn't the Obama Administration adopted polices or legislation to end the diversion of federal small business contacts to corporate giants?
 
- In February of 2009, the Obama Administration awarded a $128 million contract to Bechtel as a small business, how would you justify that to the millions of small businesses who are struggling to keep their doors open? (https://www.asbl.com/documents/20090806BechtelSB_DOE.pdf) 
 
- Is there any truth to the rumor that the Obama Administration may try to close the SBA by combining it with the U.S. Department of Commerce?
 
 
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