U.S. Small Business Administration: Biden-Harris administration awards record-breaking $154.2 billion in contracting to small businesses, including $1.1 billion to Wisconsin firms

WASHINGTON –Today, Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman, head of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA)and the voice for America’s 33 million small businesses in President Biden’s Cabinet, announced that the Biden-Harris Administration exceeded its small business federal contracting goal, awarding 27.2 percent or $154.2 billion in federal contract dollars to small businesses, an $8 billion increase from the previous fiscal year. 

The share of contracts going to small businesses equates to 27.2 percent of total federal contracting funds. Combined with $72 billion in subprime contracting goals, this historic spend has supported over one million jobs in the American economy. 

In Wisconsin, small entrepreneurs were awarded $1.1 billion in federal contracts in FY21.  More than 1160 Badger State businesses have obtained federal contracting certifications and are eligible to compete for such contracts, with 839 businesses receiving contracts this year.

“The Biden-Harris Administration set historic records in small business contracting, including the highest percentage spend to Small Disadvantaged Businesses and growth for our Service-disabled Veteran Small Businesses, which has advanced competition, strengthened local economies, and supported job growth across the nation,” said Administrator Guzman. “By expanding small business opportunities and building equity in federal procurement, we have helped to ensure that federal agencies can fully leverage the extraordinary talent and innovation delivered by our nation’s entrepreneurs. Building on the major procurement reforms announced last year; the SBA will continue to further progress in all federal procurement goals so more entrepreneurs can grow their businesses with government contracts, including those presented by President Biden’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.”

“The SBA has worked closely with the White House and our partner agencies to enact these policy changes that level the playing field for all contracting entrepreneurs through a more equitable federal procurement system and buying strategy promised in the President’s Build Back Better Plan,” said SBA Great Lakes Regional Administrator Geri Aglipay. “I’m proud of the hard work our small business advocates across the federal government and our SBA partner organizations have done to reach these results. It shows in the nearly $11 million shot in the arm these procurement contracts give to American-owned small businesses in the Great Lakes region, including: Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Indiana.”

One of the Wisconsin companies that has built a significant contracting revenue stream is  Oneida Total Integrated Enterprises (OTIE).  OTIE is a full-service engineering, science and construction management company owned by the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin.  The company spent nine years in SBA’s 8(a) business development program and used the program’s set-asides to grow. It has worked on multi-million dollar contracts  at dozens of locations worldwide with the US Army Corps of Engineers, US Air Force, and US Navy as well as civilian agencies including the US Environmental Protection Agency, USDA Forest Service, and US Fish and Wildlife Service   Since graduating from the 8(a) program in 2017 the company has continued to successfully win federal contracts both competitively and through its status as a Small Disadvantaged Business.  OTIE also subcontracts with HUBzone, certified Women-owned Small Businesses, and Veteran-owned Small Businesses.  SBA’s Wisconsin office selected OTIE as its 2022 8(a) Graduate of the Year.

Eric Ness, SBA’s Wisconsin District Director noted, “The federal contracting scorecard goals are a floor, not a ceiling.  Wisconsin small businesses have plenty of room to participate in the federal marketplace and grow their revenues by selling goods and services to the government.  SBA’s Wisconsin office has a strong team and statewide partners to help small businesses get certified and succeed on their federal contracting journey.”

Overall, the federal government exceeded its goal of 23 percent in prime contract dollars and earned an “A” on this year’s government-wide Scorecard.  Eleven federal agencies earned an “A+” for their agencies’ achievements in small business contracting, and an additional ten agencies received an “A” grade. SBA sets contracting goals for each agency and works with government buyers to ensure that they prioritize small businesses.

A detailed explanation of the scorecard methodology is available at SBA.gov. Highlights include: 

  • Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB) spending reached 11.0 percent for the first time in history. This achieves the President’s committed increase to SDB contracting one year ahead of schedule.  In Wisconsin, SDB’s exceeded the current year goal of 5 percent at 6.81 percent.
  • Service-disabled Veteran-owned small business spending reached 4.4 percent out of a three percent goal, which represents $25 billion in procurement and an important $1 billion spending increase over the prior year.  
  • Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) small businesses received a historic $14.3 billion in federal contract awards; although the federal government has never met the 3-percent statutory goal, it reached the highest amount awarded to HUBZone businesses in the program’s history. 
  • Women-owned Small Businesses (WOSB) received more than $26 billion for the third straight year, translating to 4.6 percent of the FY21 total eligible dollars. The SBA is actively working with contracting agencies to make future progress toward achieving the WOSB goal. For instance, SBA has increased the number of certified firms from approximately 1,000 to nearly 6,000 and expanded the NAICS codes for which women-owned businesses can receive set-aside awards. Now over 92 percent of federal spending is covered by NAICS codes eligible for WOSB set-aside awards.
  • The federal government achieved its small business subcontracting goals, awarding 30.9 percent, or $72 billion, to small-business subcontractors. Women-owned Small Business subcontractors received 5.2% of subcontracts, or $12.2 billion, exceeding the 5 percent WOSB subcontracting goal. 
  • Despite the overall increase in the dollar value of small-business awards, the absolute number of small businesses receiving prime contracts with the federal government decreased again in FY21. This continues a multi-year trend of decreases in small-business vendors, dating back over a decade. In December, the government issued a policy memorandum intended to reverse the decline in the small-business supplier base, in part by tracking new entrants to ensure that new government contractors are entering and then finding opportunities in the federal marketplace. 

*The prime contract goal achievements by dollars and percentages for all categories are as follows: 

CategoryGoal2017
2018
2019(1)
2020(1)
2021(1)


$(B)%SB$(B)%SB$(B)%SB$(B)%SB$(B)%SB
Small Business23%$105.7023.80%$120.8025.05%$132.9026.50%$145.6626.02%$154.2027.23%
Small Disadvantaged Business5%$40.209.10%$46.509.65%$51.6010.29%$59.0210.54%$62.4011.01%
Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business3%$17.904.10%$20.604.27%$22.004.39%$23.944.28%$25.004.41%
Women-Owned Small Business5%$20.804.70%$22.904.75%$26.005.19%$27.144.85%$26.204.63%
HUBZone3%$7.301.70%$9.902.05%$11.402.28%$13.642.44%$14.302.53%











1. FY 2019-21, in accordance with federal law, SBA provided double credit, for Scorecard purposes only, for prime contract awards in disaster areas that were awarded as a local area set aside and a small business or other socio-economic set aside when the vendor state is the same as the place of performance (15 USC § 644(f)), and for awards to small businesses in Puerto Rico or covered territories (15 USC § 644(x)(1)). SBA also included in the calculation of FY19-21 government-wide achievements the Department of Energy first-tier subcontracts required to be included by section 318 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2014 (“CAA”), Public Law 113-76.

The SBA continues to collaborate with federal agencies to expand small business opportunities for small business contractors to compete and win federal contracts. The FY2021 Scorecard analyzed the prime contracting and subcontracting performance and other contributing factors, which resulted in an overall “A” grade for the federal government. 

Small Business Federal Procurement Scorecard Overview: 

The annual Procurement Scorecard is an assessment tool to measure how well federal agencies reach their small business and socio-economic prime contracting and subcontracting goals. The Scorecard also provides accurate and transparent contracting data and reports agency-specific progress.  The prime and subcontracting component goals include goals for small businesses, WOSBs, SDBs, service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses, and small businesses located in HUBZones.  

Every year, the SBA works with agencies to set their individual prime and subcontracting goals. The SBA ensures that, in the aggregate, the federal government meets or exceeds the government-wide statutory goals mandated in 15(g)(1) of the Small Business Act in each category.  While each federal agency ensures the quality of its own contracting data, SBA conducts additional analyses to help identify potential data anomalies and with federal agency procurement staff to provide analysis and tools to facilitate a review of data, implement improvements to procurement systems, and conduct training to improve accuracy.