National Urban League Commends the SBA’s Expansion of Federal Contracting Opportunities for Black-Owned Firms
WASHINGTON, D.C. – National Urban League president and CEO, Marc H. Morial, recently issued a statement commending the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) newly-announced efforts to increase access to federal contracting and lending opportunities for as many small businesses as possible, including minority-owned firms that have historically received a smaller share of federal procurement opportunities:
“The SBA released new revised rules that increased nearly 230 small business size standards in 16 industrial sectors, resulting in an estimated 59,000 new firms becoming eligible for millions in federal procurement dollars. The SBA estimates that these new rules will create an estimated $1 billion in new federal contracting opportunities and provide nearly $45 million in loan opportunities for small businesses. Minority-owned firms stand to benefit greatly from this adjustment.
“Minority-owned firms have historically fared poorly compared to white-owned firms when it comes to accessing federal contracting opportunities, in part due to unduly restrictive small business size standard regulations that have unjustly hampered the ability of minority-owned firms to compete for federal contracts. The result has resulted in abysmal participation in federal contracting by minority contractors. In Fiscal Year 2020, for example, Black, Hispanic, and Asian American and Pacific Islander-owned small businesses received just 1.7%, 1.8%, and 2.8% of all SBA’s contracts, respectively — falling well short of the agency’s annual goal of awarding 10% of federal contracting dollars to Small Disadvantaged Businesses (SDBs).
“The National Urban League welcomes the SBA’s long-awaited revision of small business size standards, and we look forward to working with the SBA to enhance contracting assistance opportunities to the many minority-owned firms that stand benefit from this important change. We thank the SBA’s leadership, especially Administrator Guzman, for her brave and inclusive stewardship of the SBA, and for strong commitment to fulfilling the SBA’s mission in an equitable way. We simply could not have asked for a better partner and leader at this agency during this important moment in history.”
