US Federal Contractor Registration: Women-Owned Small Business Contractors Continue to Thrive in Spite of Recent Sequester

News

US Federal Contractor Registration: Women-Owned Small Business Contractors Continue to Thrive in Spite of Recent Sequester

Digital Journal
September 5, 2013

Woman-owned small businesses in the 2013 fiscal year have been pulling in contract after contract due to small business set-aside initiative. The Federal Acquisition Regulations (which contains over 2,200 pages of government rules) states very clearly that 23% of all government contracting dollars must be devoted to small business contracts and federal set-asides, especially now that the implementation of the new National Defense Authorization Act of 2013 is underway. The NDAA mandates that the government award 5% of all government contracting dollars to economically-disadvantaged woman owned small businesses and woman-owned small businesses, as well as provide limitless/cap-less contracts to these registered business types. Federal departments have been stressing the importance of these set-asides to their contracting officers more and more each year. As the final fiscal quarter of the year comes to an end, federal officers are beginning to diligently search for properly registered woman-owned small businesses that meet their procurement needs.

Despite all of the spending cuts and the furlough, most federal departments have not only managed to meet their woman-owned small business quota, but have metaphorically smashed through it. Tracey Pinson, a small business specialist at the Army Department, stated that 4.5% of its overall contracts were awarded to woman-owned businesses. Lisa Jenkins, a small business specialist with the TSA, stated 3.4% of their department’s contracts have also been devoted to woman-owned small businesses. Linda Waters, a small business specialist at the Health and Human Services Department (the federal government’s second largest awarder of contracts after the DOD) also commented by stating her department exceeded the federal set-aside goal by awarding 6.43%, or roughly $1.2 billion, just to properly registered woman-owned small businesses.

According to the Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS), the United States Federal Government spent $517 billion dollars last year. The Small Business Administration (SBA) stated that only 22% was devoted to small business. However, organizations like the American Small Business League (ASBL) report otherwise. Lloyd Chapman, President of the ASBL and friend of GovernmentContractingTips.com, stated that 57 out of the 100 biggest companies in America were labeled as small businesses in order to fraudulently win federal contracts in fiscal year 2012. Some of these businesses include Chevron, Apple, GE, AT&T, CVS, Disney, and Pepsi. This evidence shows that millions of dollars set aside for small businesses was being awarded to large businesses that do not meet the federal qualifications. According to Mr. Chapman this has been an on-going issue over the past decade, resulting in the loss of billions of funds that were set-aside for small business.

Businesses must be registered in System for Award Management (SAM) in order to be eligible for federal government contracts and set-asides. Businesses should also be registered in DSBS (Dynamic Small Business Search) in order for procurement officers to recognize their small business set-aside eligibility. Procurement Officers use DSBS to search for businesses that fulfill a certain set-aside requirement. This is to make sure they hit their set-aside quota for the year in accordance with FAR.

US Federal Contractor Registration is the world’s largest third party registration firm that pairs businesses with dedicated case managers who help businesses every step of the way, from initial SAM registration to qualifying for set-asides. US Federal Contractor Registration's BBB rating is an A- thanks to the quality of their service and responsiveness to customers. To request a free evaluation and assessment by a Placement Specialist for your business, call their Contractor Helpline at (877) 252-2700 ext 1 or visit our website at https://www.uscontractorregistration.com/.

Obama Wants to Power Africa, but Not American Small Businesses

Press Release

Obama Wants to Power Africa, but Not American Small Businesses

August 29, 2013

President Obama has apparently decided it is more important to build power plants in Africa than it is to support the Small Business Administration (SBA), the only agency in America to assist the 28 million small businesses that create over 90 percent of the nation's net new jobs.

President Obama is proposing to essentially close the SBA by combining it with the Department of Commerce to allegedly save the federal government a mere $300 million a year. At the same time, he has pledged over $7 billion is U.S. tax dollars to build power plants in Africa under his program titled "Power Africa."

When Ronald Reagan tried to permanently close the SBA, his plan was to combine it with the Department of Commerce.

It appears President Obama is moving forward with his plan to turn his back on the nation's 28 million small businesses, based on the fact that SBA Administrator Karen Mills resigned over six months ago and he has declined to appoint her successor. This Friday, August 30, will be Mills' last day.

The American Small Business League (ASBL) believes the President Obama's true motivation behind closing the SBA is to avoid further embarrassing scrutiny by federal investigators and the media on the fraud and abuse that has been uncovered at the SBA during his administration. ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN and newspapers around the country including the Washington Post have all reported on the fraud and abuse at the SBA.

Senior international Pentagon spokesman Terry Sutherland has recently joined the SBA to minimize media coverage and deal with what will no doubt be a strong negative reaction to Obama's decision to spend U.S. tax dollars in Africa and not on American small businesses.

The SBA Office of Inspector General has described the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants as, "One of the most important challenges facing the SBA and the entire federal government today."

SBA Inspector General Peg Gustafson, who was appointed by President Obama, has named the diversion of federal small business contracts to large businesses as the most rampant problem at the SBA every year of the Obama Administration.

The Government Accountability Office essentially accused the SBA and other Obama administration officials of encouraging fraud in small business contracting programs in Report 10-108 that stated, "By failing to hold firms accountable the SBA and contracting agencies have sent a message to the contracting community that there is no punishment or consequences for committing fraud."

The ASBL has contacted over 2,000 Chambers of Commerce across the country and so far over 98 percent are opposed to Obama's plan to close the SBA or combine it with the Department of Commerce.

For the latest video from the ASBL, click here.

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SBA Press office takeover: Pentagon retired Commander put in charge of SBA press

News

SBA Press office takeover: Pentagon retired Commander put in charge of SBA press

Examiner
August 29, 2013

The Obama administration has moved to take more control of the Small Business Administration (SBA). The SBA's Press Office will now be headed by a former Pentagon Naval Commander.

Video from Lloyd Chapman’s NBC investigative unit, explains how money is allocated by the SBA that totals $422 billion annually.

Pentagon retired Commander Terrence Sutherland has been appointed by the Obama administration to lead all "press" related issues, when it comes to the Small Business Administration, that distributes money to small businesses in need of an economic boost.

Any investigation into the SBA will now be answered by a former Pentagon employee, Commander Terrence Sutherland, that according to the American Small Business League (ASBL):

handled many of the Department of Defense's (DoD) most sensitive issues for over a decade during his career

The United States government's goal has been to give at least 23% of all SBA money to small businesses. Many Americans believe all the money for "small businesses" should be given to small businesses, but the Obama administration can't even seem to keep the minimally required quota.

The ASBL reports that many of the SBA contracts with large companies have come directly from government agencies under the Obama administration:

One good reason Obama may want a deeper connection with the Small Business Administration, is because of the reported billions of dollars that have been given to these large corporations, some others include:

Rolls Royce, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon, Hewlett-Packard, Bechtel, Finmeccanica in Italy, Thales Group in France and Rosoboronexport in Russia.

American small businesses provide over half the jobs in America. Many small businesses are already struggling with the economic downturn. They also face further financial difficulties in trying to meet future needs for the Affordable Health Care Act (Obamacare). American unions have also rallied to make adjustments to Obamacare, or overturn it all together. Less money for small businesses can also lead to further unemployment. This is not good news for small business or the U.S. economy

Pentagon Senior Official International Spokesman Takes Over SBA Press Office

Press Release

Pentagon Senior Official International Spokesman Takes Over SBA Press Office

August 27, 2013

One of the Pentagon's senior, worldwide public relations officers has taken over the Small Business Administration (SBA) press office.

Retired Naval Commander Terrence Sutherland has handled many of the Department of Defense's (DoD) most sensitive issues for over a decade. During his career, Commander Sutherland has acted as the Pentagon spokesman in cases of rape, murder, downed spy planes, terrorist attacks, shootings by military personnel, Saddam Hussein and advanced weapons systems.

Now he will be responsible for the SBA's most pressing and well-publicized issue, random "anomalies" in federal small business contracts that seem to always divert small business contracts to many of the Pentagon's largest prime contractors.

For over a decade, a series of federal investigations and mainstream media stories have chronicled the diversion of billions of dollars every year in federal small business contracts to corporate defense giants around the world. Some of the firms that have been uncovered as receiving federal small business contracts include Rolls Royce, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon, IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Bechtel, Finmeccanica in Italy, Thales Group in France and Rosoboronexport in Russia. In 2012, General Dynamics received over $215 million in federal small business contracts.

Commander Sutherland's new job will be to continue the SBA's irrational explanation that each year, for over ten years, many of the largest companies in the world have continued to received billions of dollars in federal small business contracts as the result of random "miscoding, computer glitches, anomalies, mistakes and simple human error."

Commander Sutherland's biggest challenge will no doubt be trying to explain why supposed random errors always report awards to large businesses as small business awards and never the other way around. True random errors would have a random pattern of distribution, like flipping a coin. Commander Sutherland will have to counter the dozens of federal investigations and investigative reports that have found the "anomalies" are actually a pattern of widespread fraud and abuse in federal small business contracting programs, particularly at the DoD.

ABC, CBS, NBC and CNN have all reported on the fraud and abuse in SBA-managed programs.

After investigating the SBA, the Government Accountability Office released Report 10-108 that stated, "By failing to hold firms accountable, the SBA and contracting agencies have sent a message to the contracting community that there is no punishment or consequences for committing fraud."

The American Small Business League also believes someone with Commander Sutherland's background and experience has joined the SBA as part of a major push by the Pentagon to close the SBA to permanently cover up the rampant fraud in Pentagon small business programs.

For the latest video from the ASBL, click here.

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Small Business Administration to Be Headed by Unknown Bureaucrat

Press Release

Small Business Administration to Be Headed by Unknown Bureaucrat

August 22, 2013

The Small Business Administration (SBA) is now being headed by Jeanne Hulit, an obscure, low-level bureaucrat at the SBA who was completely unknown by the public and members of Congress until outgoing SBA Administrator Karen Mills selected her as acting chief of the SBA. Little is known about Hulit's work history prior to joining the SBA in 2009. There is no available information that Hulit has any experience at starting or running a small business. Hulit's primary qualification to succeed Mills may be that both from Maine. Mills' selection of Jeanne Hulit to succeed her has set a new president in the history of the SBA. Up until now, when a member of the President's cabinet resigns, a successor is promptly named by the President.

Administrator Mills resigned over six months ago and yet, President Obama has not named a successor. President Obama's refusal to appoint an appropriate successor to Mills has lent credibility to American Small Business League President Lloyd Chapman's prediction in November of 2008 that President Obama would try and close the SBA.

In a recent press release titled, "Obama Wants to Close the SBA to Cover up Fraud and Abuse," Chapman explains his rationale for why he believes President Obama wants to close the SBA.

The fact that President Obama has had over six months to name a replacement for departing SBA Administrator Mills would seem to add support to Chapman's belief that President Obama wants to close the SBA.

Chapman recommended that current SBA Inspector General, Peg Gustafson replace Mills' when she steps down at the end of the month. Gustafson is familiar with the rampant abuses at the SBA. In the "Spring 2013 Semi-Annual Report to Congress" Gustafson stated that there were fraudulent schemes affecting all SBA programs.

Chapman points to the irrational excuse President Obama has given for closing the SBA. President Obama has claimed that by combining the SBA with the Department of Commerce, the federal government can save $300 million a year. The SBA's entire budget is approximately .04 percent of the Pentagon's annual budget.

Chapman challenges President Obama's true motivation for closing the SBA by pointing out that at the same time President Obama wants to close the SBA, he also intends to spend $7 billion in U.S. tax dollars to build power plants in Africa. The $7 billion President Obama intends to spend in Africa would fund the entire SBA budget for a decade and would fund the $300 million annual savings for over 23 years.

Lloyd Chapman believes the real reason President Obama has not named a successor to Karen Mills is because he intends to close the SBA to cover up the wide spread fraud and abuse at the agency that has been uncovered by the SBA Inspector General, the Government Accountability Office, NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN and the Washington Post.

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