Contact Information: Contact: Christopher Gunn Communications Director American Small Business League (707) 789-9575
SBA Still Refusing to Release All Small Business Contracting Data, According to the American Small Business League
| Source: American Small Business League
PETALUMA, CA--(Marketwire - December 5, 2007) - The following is a statement by the American
Small Business League:
Last Friday, the Small Business Administration released their "Top 100
Report," listing the top recipients of federal small business contracts for
fiscal year 2006. The release comes on the heels of a FOIA request by the
American Small Business League to the SBA requesting the names of all firms
that were coded as small businesses for FY 2005 and FY 2006.
The SBA's Top 100 list differs dramatically from the findings of over a
dozen federal investigations and hundreds of newspaper stories that have
all found that Fortune 1000 firms have received billions of dollars in
federal small business contract awards since the issue was first exposed in
the
SBA Office of Inspector General Semi-Annual report to Congress, in
September 1995.
"We believe that if the SBA were to release the names of all firms that
have been coded as receiving federal small business contracts, it would
prove that the SBA is unable to substantiate their claim that the federal
government awarded
$77.7 billion to small businesses during FY 2006," President and
Founder of the ASBL, Lloyd Chapman said.
The American Small Business League has plans to file a lawsuit against the
SBA in early 2008, which it believes will prove the SBA overstates the
percentage of small business contracts awarded to legitimate small
businesses every year.
"When we file suit against the SBA, we will win as we have always done in
the past," Chapman said. "It is difficult to believe these statistics when
more than a dozen federal investigations have found that fraud, abuse,
loopholes and a lack of oversight in federal small business contracting
have led to the diversion of federal small business contracts to large
corporations. We believe the statistics will prove that most small business
contracts during FY 2005 and FY 2006 actually went to Fortune 1000
corporations and other large businesses around the world."
In response to the ASBL's accusations spokesmen from the SBA went on the
defensive Monday.
In a story, which ran in the
Central Valley Business Times, SBA Spokesman Mike Stamler stated, "As
to the threat of lawsuit over acquiring a full list of small business
contractors, that full list is and always has been public record available
through the Federal Procurement Data System, available to anyone,
anywhere."
The ASBL contends that the specific names and dollar amounts awarded to all
firms coded as small businesses for the purpose of hitting the 23 percent
small business procurement goal is not available on FPDS-NG.
"If the information we were asking for was available online do you think
that we would be going to federal court to get it?" Chapman said.
Another story, which ran in the Federal Times, regarding this issue is
titled, "Critics question SBA's list of top 100 small-business contractors."
Another SBA spokesman quoted in the article, Arthur Collins, stated, "We
looked at firms considered small and receiving large chunks of money under
federal contracts. It's a different research question from what the private
companies have assessed in the past."
Mr. Collins' quote sheds light on the fact that the SBA was actively
attempting to muddy the waters and create false impressions about the true
recipients of federal small business contracts with the release of their
Top 100 contractors, according to Chapman. "The reality is that most small
business contracts go to large corporations. We estimate that every year
more than $60 billion in federal small business contracts are diverted from
legitimate small businesses to some of the largest corporations in the
world," he said.
The ASBL would like to note that Chapman requested a list of the top 100
small business contractors during an
August 17th teleconference with SBA Administrator Steven Preston.
Additionally, the ASBL challenges Mr. Preston to release the names of all
firms that have been coded as small businesses for FY 2005 and FY 2006. The
totals should be $75.1 billion for FY 05 and $77.7 billion for FY 06, as
stated by Preston during the August 17th SBA teleconference.
"The bottom line is that the SBA has misled the media, public and Congress
about the true volume of small business contracts awarded to small
businesses," Chapman said. "Most small business contracts actually go to
large businesses. The SBA has gone to great lengths to cover that up."