Interest In SBA Data Mounts As Agency Stalls the Release of Inflated Small Business Statistics
Petaluma, Calif. - Eleven and a half months after the end of the federal government's fiscal year (FY) 2007, new Acting Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA), Santanu "Sandy" Baruah has still not released the Bush Administration's small business contracting statistics for last year.
The federal government's FY 2007 ended on September 30th of last year. 2008 marks the first time in history that the SBA has not released its annual small business contracting statistics by the end of August.
SBA critics question why the SBA routinely takes so long to release the statistics, when it is widely known that the data is compiled on a real time basis. The information should have been available as soon as October 1, 2007.
The American Small Business League (ASBL) believes Bush officials at the SBA may have backed themselves into a corner when during an August 28, 2008 legal preceding, representatives from the SBA told United States District Court Judge Marilyn H. Patel that they did not have any small business contracting data. (http://www.asbl.com/documents/motiontodismiss.pdf)
Another reason the Bush Administration may be anxious about release of the data is every year since 2003, a firestorm of controversy erupts as soon as the small business contracting data is released. In that time, 15 federal investigations have found that the Bush Administration consistently diverts billions of dollars in federal small business contracts to Fortune 500 firms.
In past years, the story on the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants has erupted within hours of the release of the fabricated data. CBS, ABC, CNN and virtually every major newspaper in the country have covered the story.
The Bush Administration would obviously like to avoid another controversy in such close proximity to the elections.
Another possibility is that the SBA may have spent the last eleven and a half months scrubbing the 2007 data of any obvious large businesses names. They would then significantly inflate the volume of contract dollars allotted to legitimate small businesses to make up the difference.
If and when the Bush Administration does release its small business contracting statistics for 2007, billions of dollars in contracts to many of the largest firms in the United States and even Europe will most likely be included. This year marks the seventh consecutive year that large companies have been included in the government's small business contracting statistics.
In the past, Bush officials have reported contracts to firms such as Bechtel, John Deere, Dell, Xerox, Rolls Royce, Battelle, Home Depot, Boeing, Raytheon, Halliburton, General Dynamics, Thales (French), Buhrmann NV (Dutch) and British Aerospace and Engineering (BAE) as small business contracts.
The SBA is facing mounting pressure to release the 2007 small business contracting statistics. Every day that they stall the release of the data creates more and more interest in their justifications for withholding the information. If the SBA does release the data, they could find themselves in trouble with the federal courts in San Francisco as a result of SBA officials stating that they did not have the data detailing the recipients of federal small business contracts.
-###-
Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn@asbl.com
(707) 789-9575
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Latest GSA Small Business Contracting Numbers Include Billions to Fortune 500 Corporations
GSA Accused of Fabricating Small Business Contracting Statistics by Including Billions to Fortune 500 Firms
Petaluma, Calif. – Yesterday, the General Services Administration (GSA) issued a press release stating that the agency had exceeded all of its small business contracting goals, with the exception of the congressionally mandated 3 percent goal for Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Businesses.
The GSA failed to mention in its press release on its increased small business contracting numbers, that most of the money actually ended up in the hands of Fortune 1000 corporations, publicly traded firms and even a number of large businesses overseas. This represents the seventh consecutive year that the Bush Administration has released small business contracting statistics that includes billions of dollars in contracts to some of the largest companies in the U.S. and Europe.
There have now been 15 federal investigations during the Bush Administration, that have all found large businesses as the actual recipients of hundreds of billions of dollars in federal small business contracts. In Report 5-15, the Small Business Administration 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." (http://www.sba.gov/ig/05-15.pdf)
On July 1, 2008, the Department of Interior (DOI) Office of Inspector General released a report, which stated that the DOI misstated the achievement of its small business goals by including Fortune 500 corporations. According to the report, DOI included dozens of corporate giants such as Dell, GTSI, Home Depot, John Deere, McGraw-Hill, Ricoh, Sherwin Williams, Starwood Hotels, Waste Management Incorporated, Weyerhaeuser, World Wide Technology, and Xerox in its small business contracting statistics. (http://www.doioig.gov/upload/2008-G-0024.pdf)
The American Small Business League (ASBL) intends to file a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the GSA for the specific names of all of the firms the GSA used to hit and exceed its congressionally mandated small business contracting goals. The ASBL intends to request the information as a means of proving that the Bush Administration once again has fabricated its small business contracting numbers for fiscal year 2007.
The ASBL projects that the Bush Administration diverts up to $100 billion a year in small business contracts to large corporations.
"The Bush Administration has lost all credibility with the public and the media, especially when it comes to small business contracting. There have been 15 federal investigations, which have all found that hundreds of billions of dollars in contracts intended for small businesses actually went to Fortune 500 corporations," ASBL President Lloyd Chapman said. "The GSA's small business statistics are fabricated and have no validity. I would love to have someone from the press contact GSA's Acting Administrator Jim Williams and ask one question, 'are contracts to any Fortune 1000 corporations included in your small business contracting numbers, yes or no?' "
-###-
Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn@asbl.com
(707) 789-9575
Petaluma, Calif. – Yesterday, the General Services Administration (GSA) issued a press release stating that the agency had exceeded all of its small business contracting goals, with the exception of the congressionally mandated 3 percent goal for Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Businesses.
The GSA failed to mention in its press release on its increased small business contracting numbers, that most of the money actually ended up in the hands of Fortune 1000 corporations, publicly traded firms and even a number of large businesses overseas. This represents the seventh consecutive year that the Bush Administration has released small business contracting statistics that includes billions of dollars in contracts to some of the largest companies in the U.S. and Europe.
There have now been 15 federal investigations during the Bush Administration, that have all found large businesses as the actual recipients of hundreds of billions of dollars in federal small business contracts. In Report 5-15, the Small Business Administration 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." (http://www.sba.gov/ig/05-15.pdf)
On July 1, 2008, the Department of Interior (DOI) Office of Inspector General released a report, which stated that the DOI misstated the achievement of its small business goals by including Fortune 500 corporations. According to the report, DOI included dozens of corporate giants such as Dell, GTSI, Home Depot, John Deere, McGraw-Hill, Ricoh, Sherwin Williams, Starwood Hotels, Waste Management Incorporated, Weyerhaeuser, World Wide Technology, and Xerox in its small business contracting statistics. (http://www.doioig.gov/upload/2008-G-0024.pdf)
The American Small Business League (ASBL) intends to file a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the GSA for the specific names of all of the firms the GSA used to hit and exceed its congressionally mandated small business contracting goals. The ASBL intends to request the information as a means of proving that the Bush Administration once again has fabricated its small business contracting numbers for fiscal year 2007.
The ASBL projects that the Bush Administration diverts up to $100 billion a year in small business contracts to large corporations.
"The Bush Administration has lost all credibility with the public and the media, especially when it comes to small business contracting. There have been 15 federal investigations, which have all found that hundreds of billions of dollars in contracts intended for small businesses actually went to Fortune 500 corporations," ASBL President Lloyd Chapman said. "The GSA's small business statistics are fabricated and have no validity. I would love to have someone from the press contact GSA's Acting Administrator Jim Williams and ask one question, 'are contracts to any Fortune 1000 corporations included in your small business contracting numbers, yes or no?' "
-###-
Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn@asbl.com
(707) 789-9575
Monday, September 15, 2008
Hurricane Relief Will be Hampered By SBA Budget Cuts
The following press release was distributed by the American Small Business League today...
Petaluma, Calif. - Relief to small businesses and homeowners recovering from this season's round of hurricanes will be dramatically hampered by a series of severe Bush Administration budget cuts at the Small Business Administration (SBA). The SBA's ability to respond to victims of Hurricane Katrina was severely handicapped by dramatic budget and staffing cuts at the agency prior to the storm.
The SBA was so overwhelmed during relief efforts following Hurricane Katrina, that the agency was forced to hire thousands of temporary workers to do the work of the multitude of experienced SBA staff that had been laid off by the Bush Administration. A Government Accountability Office (GAO) report issued on July 25, 2007 stated, "SBA also faced challenges training and supervising the thousands of mostly temporary employees the agency hired to process loan applications and obtaining suitable office space for its expanded workforce. As of late May 2006, SBA processed disaster loan applications, on average, in about 74 days compared with its goal of within 21 days." (GAO-07-1124T, http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d071124t.pdf)
The SBA's lack of experienced staff was seen as a contributing factor in the hundreds of cases of fraud and abuse that were uncovered in the aftermath of relief efforts.
On March 28, 2008, the SBA Office of Inspector General released Report 8-11 stating, "Due to the unprecedented number of loans, by the fall of 2006 SBA had accumulated a backlog of more than 90,000 undisbursed loans. To expedite disbursement, SBA launched a 90-in-45 Campaign to resolve the backlog within 45 days. Several SBA employees involved in this initiative complained that, to meet performance goals, SBA disbursed funds against borrowers' wishes, circumvented loan-processing requirements, unnecessarily cancelled approved loans and inappropriately withdrew loan applications." (SBA OIG Report 08-11, http://www.sba.gov/ig/8-11.pdf)
Despite the SBA's efforts to mask its inability to adequately respond to the volume of disaster loan applications following Hurricane Katrina, the agency still managed to accumulate a massive backlog of loan applications.
According to Report 7-20 released by the SBA OIG, following the 2005 Gulf Coast hurricanes, the SBA approved 158,000 disaster loans totaling $10.6 billion. The report stated that as of September 30, 2006, the SBA had only dispersed $3.1 billion or 30 percent of the loans. Furthermore, Report 8-11 states that as of January 25, 2008, the SBA had only dispersed $6.3 billion after approving more than 160,000 disaster loans. (SBA OIG Report 07-11, http://www.sba.gov/ig/7-20.pdf)
Since taking office, President Bush has cut the SBA's budget and staffing more than any other federal agency. Today, the agency's budget is less than half of what it was when President Bush took office.
Depending on the overall magnitude of the damage caused by Hurricanes Ike, Gustav and the remainder of the seasons storms, the SBA may have to once again resort to hiring inexperienced temporary workers as a means of handling the workload the agencies larger and more experienced staff was able to provide in the past.
Relief to victims of this season's hurricanes could be even worse than it was after Katrina, because the SBA's budget and staffing have been cut further in the years following Katrina.
To date, neither Senator Barack Obama (D - IL), nor Senator John McCain (R - AZ) have posed plans to restore the SBA's Budget if elected president.
-###-
Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn@asbl.com
(707) 789-9575
Petaluma, Calif. - Relief to small businesses and homeowners recovering from this season's round of hurricanes will be dramatically hampered by a series of severe Bush Administration budget cuts at the Small Business Administration (SBA). The SBA's ability to respond to victims of Hurricane Katrina was severely handicapped by dramatic budget and staffing cuts at the agency prior to the storm.
The SBA was so overwhelmed during relief efforts following Hurricane Katrina, that the agency was forced to hire thousands of temporary workers to do the work of the multitude of experienced SBA staff that had been laid off by the Bush Administration. A Government Accountability Office (GAO) report issued on July 25, 2007 stated, "SBA also faced challenges training and supervising the thousands of mostly temporary employees the agency hired to process loan applications and obtaining suitable office space for its expanded workforce. As of late May 2006, SBA processed disaster loan applications, on average, in about 74 days compared with its goal of within 21 days." (GAO-07-1124T, http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d071124t.pdf)
The SBA's lack of experienced staff was seen as a contributing factor in the hundreds of cases of fraud and abuse that were uncovered in the aftermath of relief efforts.
On March 28, 2008, the SBA Office of Inspector General released Report 8-11 stating, "Due to the unprecedented number of loans, by the fall of 2006 SBA had accumulated a backlog of more than 90,000 undisbursed loans. To expedite disbursement, SBA launched a 90-in-45 Campaign to resolve the backlog within 45 days. Several SBA employees involved in this initiative complained that, to meet performance goals, SBA disbursed funds against borrowers' wishes, circumvented loan-processing requirements, unnecessarily cancelled approved loans and inappropriately withdrew loan applications." (SBA OIG Report 08-11, http://www.sba.gov/ig/8-11.pdf)
Despite the SBA's efforts to mask its inability to adequately respond to the volume of disaster loan applications following Hurricane Katrina, the agency still managed to accumulate a massive backlog of loan applications.
According to Report 7-20 released by the SBA OIG, following the 2005 Gulf Coast hurricanes, the SBA approved 158,000 disaster loans totaling $10.6 billion. The report stated that as of September 30, 2006, the SBA had only dispersed $3.1 billion or 30 percent of the loans. Furthermore, Report 8-11 states that as of January 25, 2008, the SBA had only dispersed $6.3 billion after approving more than 160,000 disaster loans. (SBA OIG Report 07-11, http://www.sba.gov/ig/7-20.pdf)
Since taking office, President Bush has cut the SBA's budget and staffing more than any other federal agency. Today, the agency's budget is less than half of what it was when President Bush took office.
Depending on the overall magnitude of the damage caused by Hurricanes Ike, Gustav and the remainder of the seasons storms, the SBA may have to once again resort to hiring inexperienced temporary workers as a means of handling the workload the agencies larger and more experienced staff was able to provide in the past.
Relief to victims of this season's hurricanes could be even worse than it was after Katrina, because the SBA's budget and staffing have been cut further in the years following Katrina.
To date, neither Senator Barack Obama (D - IL), nor Senator John McCain (R - AZ) have posed plans to restore the SBA's Budget if elected president.
-###-
Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn@asbl.com
(707) 789-9575
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
