May 7th marked the fifth anniversary of the first congressional hearing on the diversion of billions of dollars in federal contracts that were intended for small businesses but given to Fortune 1000 companies. As of today, there has not been any law that has been passed to stop large companies from receiving money that is designated for small businesses.
The goal has been to give small businesses 23 percent of all government contracting dollars, yet over and over again, big businesses are receiving the contracts. Some of the big businesses which have benefited from small business allotments are: Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Rolls Royce, L3 Communications, British Aerospace Engineering (BAE) and Raytheon.
There have been many inquiries and investigations into the matter, yet nothing has been done to stop the free flowing money to these larger companies. In fact, the Bush administration implemented a policy that will allow large companies to masquerade as smaller companies and receive these contracts through 2012. It is estimated that between $65 and $100 billion in federal small business contracts are awarded to large businesses every year.
Small businesses should contact their legislative representatives and demand answers to this ever growing problem. Everyone should be asking why these companies are allowed to receive contracts that are clearly not intended for them. There are two bills currently pending which would help protect small businesses in this matter. They are the S. 2300, the Small Business Contracting Revitalization Act of 2008 and The Small Business Fairness and Transparency in Contracting Act of 2008.
The SBA has policies that are put in place to support and protect small businesses, not large businesses, and everyone should be outraged!
