Saturday, May 23, 2009
The U.S. government has committed itself to allocating almost one quarter of all federal contracts to small businesses, but when it comes to stimulus funds, these businesses have received only 10% of monies distributed so far. That has amounted to $389 million, out of the $787 billion that will eventually be allocated from the 2009 American Reinvestment and Recovery Act passed in February. Furthermore, an industry report found that 80% of all private sector jobs lost since last November have come from small businesses (defined as companies with fewer than 500 employees).
These findings were revealed during a Senate hearing on Thursday, causing Sens. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Mary Landrieu (D-LA) to admonish the Obama administration for ignoring small businesses. “This is simply unacceptable,” Snowe declared. “Small businesses deserve their fair share.” Landrieu and Snowe have sent letters to the nation’s governors urging them to use a portion of their stimulus funds for small business contracting.
Small Business Administration officials who testified before the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee told lawmakers to be patient, claiming their data shows that small businesses are getting a growing share of the stimulus. As of April 15, small businesses had won 1.8% of all stimulus awards, but by May 5, that figure had increased to 6.3%, and by Thursday, it had reached 10.3%.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Small Businesses Struggling to Win Recovery Act Contracts (by Robert Brodsky, Government Executive)
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