The Biden administration recently announced several new initiatives to expand contracting opportunities, particularly for small and disadvantaged businesses.
On Tuesday, the White House announced that in the fiscal year 2021, the federal government awarded small businesses $154.2 billion or 27.2% of total contract dollars—up $8 billion from the previous fiscal year.
The federal government exceeded its small business contracting goals for small disadvantaged and service-disabled veteran-owned businesses.
This summer, the U.S. Departments of Interior and Transportation will host events to provide information on technical and financial assistance opportunities for small, understaffed businesses.
The White House also announced that the Department of Transportation and the Small Business Administration would help expand access to capital for small, disadvantaged businesses by linking them with investment firms. The two agencies will hold business forums to match SBICs with disadvantaged businesses and broker discussions between companies and fund managers.
To ensure equitable procurement opportunities, the government is increasing the contracting goal for small disadvantaged businesses from 5 percent to 15 percent by 2025 and will change how companies are categorized.