The National Small Business Advocacy Council is gaining momentum in its effort to increase opportunities for small businesses to compete for federal contracts with support from the Small Business Administration.
As President Biden's 1.2 trillion Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework moves forward in Washington D.C., efforts by the NSBAC are being propelled forward with help from the SBA.
In June, the California-based business group presented a bill proposal that would make government business contracts more accessible to small businesses still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. The "Restore Small Business America" bill was submitted to office of Senator Dianne Feinstein (CA-D) for sponsorship. The bill seeks to level the playing field in federal contracting for small business owners with an emphasis on providing equity access and assistance for minority business owners and women. implement key policy changes to federal contracting protocols and procurement processes that would directly benefit small businesses and limit the outsourcing of government contracts to corporations outside of the U.S.
"The NSBAC is grateful to align our mission with the critical efforts of the SBA to make impactful changes to federal contracting opportunities for small businesses in the US," said Charlotta Carter, Founder and CEO of GRE Tech Solutions and Public Policy Director, NSBAC. "We need access to customers and new streams of revenue in addition to capital," Carter said. "We can't run our businesses drowning in debt," she said.
Proposed small business initiatives for federal contracting include:
- Increase small business set asides from 5% to 40% and increase goals for all designations.
- Stop bundling of government contracts that are consistently awarded to a small number of primes thereby reducing the opportunity for small business direct bid.
- Increase the number of PCRs (small business advocates for more small business set asides).
- Stop outsourcing of federal contracts to large primes who transfer the business overseas.
- Use of factoring to support small business via “non-profit” organizations as a passthrough from SBA (this could be in addition to SBA loans or in lieu of SBA Loans).
- Help subsidize small business with cost prohibitive specialty certifications that are a barrier to eligibility or bidding government contracts (i.e., Cybersecurity certification - CMMC, CMMI, NIST DFARS Clause 252.204-7020, NIST 800-171, ISO).
- Provide more support with teams of small business for the opportunity to bid on large contracts.
- Possible VMS model for IT and professional support to allow for more small business participation.
- Expedited accounts receivable to small business with a (15-30) day net pay for services rendered.
- A simplified RFP process with the ability to accept commercial experience in lieu of past performance if small business is new to the process.
- Address lack of diversity in federal contracting; and Equitable access to OTA (Other Transaction Authority) opportunities, currently now specifically allocated to Large Businesses, to help start and grow small business.
Thousands of small businesses have been hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and are still reeling from it's effects.
"Small businesses employ half of the American workforce and make up nearly half of US GDP. The key to recovery for America’s economy lies in the health of small businesses, and providing a pathway for small business to compete for federal contracts would be transformative for businesses and industries that have been left behind in efforts to restart the economy this past year," said Antonette Vanasek, NSBAC Vice President and Co-Author of the "Restore Small Business America" bill. Vanasek is Founder and CEO of Vanasek Insurance, a Pasadena, CA.-based insurance firm seeking federal contracts for cybersecurity insurance services.
"When small businesses have the opportunity to compete for federal contracts, the impact is immediately felt in our local communities," said Allison Allain, NSBAC President and Co-Author of the "Restore Small Business America Bill." Allain is the Founder of Monrovia-based construction firm, PCI Builders. "Access to federal contracts provides small businesses a platform to scale their operations, hire more employees, generate more revenue, and ultimately pay more in state and federal taxes that fund important community programs and critical infrastructure," she said.
Small business procurement is an under-appreciated yet critically important dimension of economic activity. Each year, tens of thousands of small businesses serve as contractors to the federal government, providing a variety of goods and services.
Together with the SBA, the NSBAC aims to urgently address some of the biggest issues straining post-pandemic recovery for small business owners and create a safety net to protect the economy from being sidelined again in the future.
"By pushing initiatives forward that prioritize small business, we can effectively advocate on behalf of our peers and help provide a much-needed influx of resources for small business," Vanasek said.
"It is a state of emergency for small business and access to federal contracts on a level playing field is one example of an effective solution and we are grateful to have the attention and support of the SBA to make meaningful changes in this area that directly benefit small business," Vanasek said.
A total of 7 California small business owners co-authored the bill. Five of them are women and identify as minority business owners.
A complete resolution of the proposed "Restore Small Business America Bill" is available online at NSBAC.us.
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About the NSBAC
The NSBAC has come together to represent and advocate for small business resolutions in communities across the U.S. It the mission and goal of the NSBAC to springboard COVID-19 recovery by campaigning for and allying with small business leaders to incite real and impactful change in California and nationwide. For more information about the NSBAC visit www.nsbac.us
Contact Information: Melissa Rein Lively, The Brand Consortium PR Melissa@TheBrandConsortium.com, 602.384.4747
