The Small Business Administration (SBA) announced that the Biden-Harris administration awarded a record $154.2 billion in Federal contract dollars to small businesses in fiscal year 2021 – far exceeding the government’s small business contracting goal.
In a press release, SBA Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman said the administration awarded 27.2 percent of Federal contract dollars to small businesses during the year – an $8 billion increase from the previous fiscal year.
The “historic spend” has supported over one million jobs, according to SBA, when combined with the $72 billion in subprime contracting goals.
The Federal government earned an “A” on this year’s SBA governmentwide procurement scorecard after it exceeded its goal of 23 percent in prime contract dollars. Eleven agencies earned an “A+” grade for small business contracting achievements, while another 10 agencies received “A” grades.
“By expanding small business opportunities and building equity in Federal procurement, we have helped to ensure that Federal agencies can fully leverage the extraordinary talent and innovation delivered by our nation’s entrepreneurs,” said Guzman. “Building on the major procurement reforms announced last year; the SBA will continue to further progress in all Federal procurement goals so more entrepreneurs can grow their businesses with government contracts, including those presented by President Biden’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.”
Other key components of the SBA’s contracting tally include:
- Service-disabled Veteran-owned small business contract spending reached 4.4 percent – versus a goal of three percent goal, representing $25 billion in procurement;
- Historically Underutilized Business Zone small businesses received a record $14.3 billion in Federal contract awards;
- Women-owned Small Businesses received over $26 billion of contracts for the third straight year; and
- Despite the overall increase in dollars for small-business awards, the number of small businesses receiving prime contracts decreased again in fiscal year 2021, a trend the government is attempting to reverse.
