SBA

Agencies launch initiative to better identify minority-owned contractors

The joint effort between the Small Business Administration and the General Services Administration aims to make it easier for federal procurement officials to connect with small, disadvantaged businesses across sectors.

  • By Chris Riotta

DOT, SBA and others team up to attract new entrants to the federal market

A new interagency collaboration to promote opportunities for small and disadvantaged businesses featured in the new infrastructure bill is "vital" to federal equity goals, officials said.

  • By Chris Riotta

Small business contract awards hit record $154B

But fewer of those companies are entering the federal market or competing for the work, the Small Business Administration says.

  • By Chris Riotta

GAO uses uses covert testing scheme to assess SBA screening processes

The Government Accountability Office sent applications from four fake firms to the Small Business Administration's 8(a) program to see whether SBA had made progress addressing long-standing oversight issues.

  • By Chris Riotta

Federal CIO tees up 7 new TMF awards

The awards, the first since TMF's $1 billion plus-up in the American Rescue Plan Act, are expected to be made public soon.

  • By Adam Mazmanian

Vote delayed on Biden's SBA nominee amid GOP-led filibuster attempts

Republicans have condemned Dilawar Syed, nominated to serve as deputy administrator for the Small Business Administration, over his involvement with a Muslim advocacy group that has been critical of Israel.

  • By Chris Riotta

The risks of pushing for procurement equity

A White House plan to steer $100 billion towards small disadvantaged businesses could prove transformative for historically underserved communities nationwide -- but only with proper regulation.

  • By Chris Riotta

White House leverages procurement authority to address racial wealth gap

The Biden administration is hoping to steer $100 billion in federal contracting opportunities to small, disadvantaged businesses over the next five years in an effort to narrow economic divides in the United States.

  • By Chris Riotta

Agencies feel IT staff shortages from Trump administration hiring freezes

Trump administration hiring freezes have been causing a strain on federal agencies trying to cope with the demands put on IT staff because of telework.

  • By Justin Katz

FITARA grades mostly stable

Most agencies maintained their grades on the latest FITARA scorecard, but the new telecom category produced some failing marks.

  • By Mark Rockwell

Pandemic spotlights the promise and weakness of government tech

Governments should not aim for "a return to the technology status quo before the pandemic," according to a new white paper by Microsoft and the Partnership for Public Service.

  • By Natalie Alms

SBA taps cloud for loan forgiveness platform

The Small Business Administration is using a commercial off the shelf software as a services platform to process applications for its loan forgiveness relief program.

  • By Mark Rockwell

A call for visionary investment

Investing in IT modernization is not an either-or proposition, Rep. Connolly writes. This pandemic has presented Congress a choice: We can put our head in the sand and pretend these failures didn't happen, or we can take action to be prepared for the future.

  • By Gerald E. Connolly

IG: GSA system erred on small business designation

Large businesses were misidentified as small businesses in General Services Administration's procurement data system, according to the agency's watchdog.

  • By Mark Rockwell
Featured eBooks

GSA won't budge on STARS II deadlines

GSA isn't moving away from a new, shorter period of performance for one of its popular small business governmentwide IT contracts.

  • By Mark Rockwell

Scammers spoof SBA to get disaster loan dollars

The campaign was still active in early August, the latest evidence that the economic assistance tied to COVID-19 remains an attractive target for cyber criminals.

  • By Derek B. Johnson

SBA defends data exposure response

The notification of companies whose data had been exposed by the Small Business Administration's effort to set up advanced electronic emergency loan portals was slowed by a contracting issue, the agency's deputy CIO told Congress.

  • By Mark Rockwell

CARES Act delivery hampered by old tech, bad data

Aspects of the federal government's economic response to the coronavirus pandemic were marred by outdated state technology software and a crushing volume of beneficiaries that overwhelmed many systems, according to a new report from the watchdog Government Accountability Office.

  • By Derek B. Johnson

Pandemic oversight begins to take shape

The Pandemic Response Accountability Council will look at IT challenges, safety measures and funding oversight.

  • By Lia Russell

Sen. Hassan digs into agency IT plans

The push comes, the New Hampshire Democrat explained, because of technology weaknesses exposed in the federal government response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • By Adam Mazmanian

NITAAC says it can fill in for STARS

The National Institutes of Health's governmentwide contracts can pick up the slack for GSA's STARS II 8(a) small business set aside contract’s early cut off.

  • By Mark Rockwell