Contact Information: Contact: Christopher Gunn Communications Director American Small Business League (707) 789-9575
SBA to Hold Hearing in San Francisco on Tuesday
| Source: American Small Business League
PETALUMA, CA--(Marketwire - February 4, 2008) - The following is a statement by the American
Small Business League:
On Tuesday, February 5th, 2008 Small Business Administration (SBA) National
Ombudsman Nicholas Owens, members of the Region IX Regulatory Fairness
Board and representatives of Federal regulatory agencies will hear
comments, concerns and complaints regarding federal regulatory enforcement
and compliance from the American Small Business League (ASBL) and small
business owners from the Bay Area.
During its comment period, the ASBL plans to identify problems within the
federal regulatory environment that have led to the diversion of billions
of dollars in federal small business contracts to Fortune 1000 corporations
and their subsidiaries.
The ASBL contends that every year, more than $100 billion in federal small
business contracts are diverted from legitimate small businesses to some of
the largest corporations in the United States and Europe.
"The lack of regulatory enforcement at the SBA has led to an atmosphere of
fraud, abuse, loopholes and the diversion of small business contracts to
large and international corporations," President and Founder of the ASBL,
Lloyd Chapman said. "It is time for the federal government to enforce the
laws that have been put in place to prevent such abuses."
Since 2003, there have been more than a dozen federal investigations, which
have found that billions of dollars in federal small business contracts
have been diverted from legitimate small businesses to firms like: Lockheed
Martin, Boeing, Battelle, Bechtel, Hewlett-Packard and BAE systems.
(http://www.asbl.com/documents/Fedmine.pdf)
In Report 5-15, the SBA Office of Inspector General stated, "One of the
most important challenges facing the Small Business Administration (SBA)
and the entire Federal Government today is that large businesses are
receiving small business procurement awards and agencies are receiving
credit for these awards."
"To create a more cooperative regulatory environment among federal agencies
and small businesses, the federal government needs to enforce the current
regulations," Chapman said. "It's a simple proposition: remove large firms,
punish them for cheating, create greater access to federal contracts for
legitimate small businesses and allow small businesses to succeed."