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SMALL BUSINESS OFFICIAL SAYS VETERANS GETTING
MORE CONTRACTS BUT NOT ENOUGH -- Agencies have
a
long way to go in spending 3 percent of their
contracting dollars
with service-disabled veteran-owned small
businesses.
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http://www.fcw.
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Official: Vets getting more contracts but not
enough
BY Matthew Weigelt
Fiscal 2006 contracting data shows that agencies have sent more
contracting dollars to service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses
than in past years, but they’re still falling short of the mark, an SBA
official told a House subcommittee July 12.
“The preliminary data suggests significant efforts toward an improvement
in achieving the 3 percent goal,” said William Elmore, associate
administrator of the Small Business Administration’s Office of Veterans
Business Development. “It also demonstrates the increasing ability of
[service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses] in pursuing
contracting opportunities and in securing contracts.”
The 2006 data, which SBA is reviewing, may be released by the end of the
month.
Agencies have a long way to go in spending 3 percent of their
contracting dollars with service-disabled veteran-owned small
businesses. Last year, only two agencies — SBA and the Veterans Affairs
Department — met the mark. Most agencies lag well behind, officials told
the House Veterans Affairs Committee’s Economic Opportunity
Subcommittee.
Subcommittee Chairwoman Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-S.D.) requested a
list of agencies with the lowest percentages. Elmore said a soon-to-come
electronic score card rating agencies may be effective in urging
agencies to meet the 3 percent goal. The score card will list the
details of contracting dollars in real time.
Paul Denett, administrator of Office of Federal Procurement Policy, said
contracts to small businesses owned and controlled by service-disabled
veterans increased to $1.9 billion, up from $1.2 billion in 2004.
But a major problem is good data, the officials agreed.
“The challenge we have is making sure everything we buy is getting
reported,” said Scott Denniston, director of VA’s Office of Small and
Disadvantaged Business Utilization.
Denett said he is on a personal crusade to get accurate data from
agencies.
Without it, “you don’t know what legislation to do; we don’t know what
to do on the executive [branch] side; the individual departments are in
a quandary. If we don’t have accurate data, none of us can do our job,”
he said.
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Larry Scott --
