GSA Broadens Outreach & Expands Opportunities For Small Business

The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) continues to exceed small business goals, according to the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) recently released small business scorecard for Fiscal Year 2012. This marks the second year in a row that GSA has received an A+ on the SBA scorecard.

Over the last couple of months, GSA has doubled down on its efforts to expand opportunities for small businesses by hosting critical small business training and matchmaking sessions around the country.

The grading system is part of SBA’s government-wide small business scorecard, which measures how well each agency performs in reaching their small business and socioeconomic prime contracting and subcontracting goals. Additionally, the scorecard provides accurate and transparent contracting data and reports agency-specific progress.

GSA awarded $1.3 billion to small business in Fiscal Year 2012, representing nearly 40 percent of eligible contract dollars, exceeding the agency’s 30 percent goal and all prime contracting subcategory goals.

Strategic sourcing efforts have saved the government $200 million on purchases of common office supplies as well as awarding more than $21 million to small business across the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. To date, GSA’s Rocky Mountain region has awarded $56 million to small businesses and since October 2012, more than $61 million in new contracts have been awarded to small businesses within the Pacific Rim Region.

The GSA has incorporated innovative small business outreach efforts to help exceed its goals. The Office of Small Business Utilization broadened outreach to small businesses, launching a new workshop series to help business owners learn more about federal opportunities. The agency also uses social media to promote awareness of small business training opportunities and policy updates. To improve subcontracting performance, GSA conducted training for the acquisition workforce and increased prime contractor accountability by conducting subcontracting compliance reviews with SBA.

Innovative small business outreach efforts helped the agency exceed its goals. The Office of Small Business Utilization broadened outreach to small businesses, launching a new workshop series to help business owners learn more about federal opportunities. The agency also uses social media to promote awareness of small business training opportunities and policy updates. To improve subcontracting performance, GSA conducted training for the acquisition workforce and increased prime contractor accountability by conducting subcontracting compliance reviews with SBA.