Last week, our CEO Rebecca Askew testified in front of the House Small Business Committee. She was part of a panel of small business owners and contracting experts. They spoke about the impacts category management and governmentwide contracts have on small businesses.
Rebecca represented the Women’s Procurement Circle. She hoped to provide insight into the resources new government contractors need to take part in contracting vehicles. From 2016 to 2019, small businesses providing services to the federal marketplace decreased by 17%.
“For a small business to respond to an IDIQ, it takes significant time, money, and human capital. The response consists of hundreds of pages over multiple volumes and dozens of pricing categories,” Rebecca told the committee. “We dedicate at least one proposal writer and one financial analyst to manage the bulk of this submission. This removes those individuals from their normal work responsibilities.”
“Winning a slot in no way guarantees a company will win work for a federal agency,” Rebecca said. “I liken it to getting a fishing license; you can throw a line into the water, but no catch is assured.”
Rebecca said the following actions proposed by the Women’s Procurement Council to Congress would increase awards to women-owned small businesses (WOSB) and other economically disadvantaged designated businesses:
- Increase EDWOSB goals and the WOSB goal to 10% from 5%
- Maximize WOSB awards on government-wide contracts
- Expand sole source contract opportunities for WOSB
- Allow EDWOSB’s to have access to business development tools to grow and thrive
- Eliminate double counting for government contract awards
- Allow agencies to fully utilize Made in America products
More than 90% of all women-owned businesses are small businesses. Rebecca said that by increasing the participation of WOSB’s and other economically disadvantaged businesses, she hopes it will increase the participation of all small businesses in the federal marketplace.
Circuit Media is an EDWOSB and an 8(a) certified small business. For more information about our contracting expertise, please visit our capabilities page.
