On Thursday, January 13, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) will host an Obama Administration forum on “Overcoming Obstacles to Small Business Lending.” The American Small Business League (ASBL) believes the event will fail to address the #1 job killing issue facing small businesses, the diversion of small business contracts to corporate giants.
For the last five consecutive years, the Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Inspector General has named the issue as the agency’s #1 challenge. (http://www.asbl.com/documents/05-15.pdf) The ASBL has estimated that every year more than $100 billion in federal small business contracts are diverted to some of the largest corporations on earth.
In February of 2008, President Barack Obama promised to end the abuse. Despite, thousands of business closures and countless lost jobs, the Obama Administration has failed to honor its promise, and end the diversion of federal small business contracts to corporate giants.
(http://www.barackobama.com/2008/02/26/the_american_small_business_le.php)
The most recent information released by the Obama Administration shows large recipients of small business contracts such as Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, Dell Computer, Xerox, SAIC, General Dynamics, Bechtel and John Deere. (www.asbl.com/documents/ASBL_2009_dataanalysis.pdf)
In addition to the concerns about billions of dollars in federal contracting abuse, the ASBL does not believe the Obama Administration’s forum on lending is likely to create new jobs or stimulate the economy. The National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) and the Congressional Oversight Panel have separately concluded that small businesses are in desperate need of demand, not loans. (http://www.nfib.com/Portals/0/PDF/sbet/SBET201006.pdf; http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/13/federal-oversight-panel-s_n_574781.html)
In December of 2009, the Obama Administration held its first forum on obstacles to small business lending. At the time, U-6 unemployment was 17.1 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. More than a year later, U-6 unemployment has remained near 17 percent.
(http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t15.htm)
“We’ve spent trillions of dollars and focused small business assistance on lending, yet unemployment remains unreasonably high. Let’s just try something crazy like not giving federal small business contracts to some of the biggest companies in the world, and instead direct those dollars to the nation’s 27 million small businesses,” ASBL President Lloyd Chapman said. “Ending the diversion of small business contracts to corporate giants would put more money into the middle class economy, and create more jobs, than anything the Obama Administration has proposed to date.”
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Monday, December 6, 2010
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Monday, November 29, 2010
SBA Loses Legal Battle Over Crisis Management PR Contract
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 29, 2010
Petaluma, Calif. – The Small Business Administration (SBA) has lost another Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by the American Small Business League (ASBL). The ASBL filed suit after the SBA refused to turn over information on potentially damaging public relations contracts awarded by the agency to APCO Worldwide Inc., an international public relations firm specializing in crisis management.
The ASBL suspects the SBA has spent American tax dollars to hire consultants to help obscure the SBA's role in diverting billions of dollars a month in federal small business contracts to Fortune 500 firms and other large businesses around the world. The ASBL believes the SBA may have launched a massive campaign to cover-up the diversion of federal small business contracts to large businesses, and to discourage the media from covering the issue.
In one case, the SBA paid $30,000 for a one-day meeting with APCO executives. In winning the lawsuit, the ASBL has now forced the SBA to turn over complete copies of those contracts.
Since 2003, more than a dozen federal investigations have uncovered billions of dollars a month in federal small business contracts are going to corporate giants. In Report 5-15, the SBA’s own Office of Inspector General (IG) referred to the issue as, “One of the most important challenges facing the Small Business Administration and the entire Federal government today” (http://www.asbl.com/documents/05-15.pdf)
In Report 5-16 from March of 2005, the SBA IG reported that large businesses had committed fraud by misrepresenting themselves as small businesses through “false certifications,” and “improper certifications.” Another investigation from the SBA Office of Advocacy found large businesses had received federal small business contracts fraudulently through what they referred to as “vendor deception.”
In recent years, the SBA has claimed the diversion of federal small business contracts to large corporations has been the result of harmless "miscoding." In May of 2007, the SBA even went as far as to claim that it was a "myth" that large corporations received federal small business contracts. (http://www.asbl.com/documents/sbamythvfact.pdf)
“We are going to continue to sue the SBA to force the release of information that shows they have encouraged and protected firms that have committed felony contracting fraud,” ASBL President Lloyd Chapman said. “The proposal to combine the SBA with the Commerce Department is just the latest attempt by the government to cover up billions of dollars in abuse, while trying to further dismantle federal small business contracting programs.”
-###-
Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn@asbl.com
(707) 789-9575
November 29, 2010
Petaluma, Calif. – The Small Business Administration (SBA) has lost another Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by the American Small Business League (ASBL). The ASBL filed suit after the SBA refused to turn over information on potentially damaging public relations contracts awarded by the agency to APCO Worldwide Inc., an international public relations firm specializing in crisis management.
The ASBL suspects the SBA has spent American tax dollars to hire consultants to help obscure the SBA's role in diverting billions of dollars a month in federal small business contracts to Fortune 500 firms and other large businesses around the world. The ASBL believes the SBA may have launched a massive campaign to cover-up the diversion of federal small business contracts to large businesses, and to discourage the media from covering the issue.
In one case, the SBA paid $30,000 for a one-day meeting with APCO executives. In winning the lawsuit, the ASBL has now forced the SBA to turn over complete copies of those contracts.
Since 2003, more than a dozen federal investigations have uncovered billions of dollars a month in federal small business contracts are going to corporate giants. In Report 5-15, the SBA’s own Office of Inspector General (IG) referred to the issue as, “One of the most important challenges facing the Small Business Administration and the entire Federal government today” (http://www.asbl.com/documents/05-15.pdf)
In Report 5-16 from March of 2005, the SBA IG reported that large businesses had committed fraud by misrepresenting themselves as small businesses through “false certifications,” and “improper certifications.” Another investigation from the SBA Office of Advocacy found large businesses had received federal small business contracts fraudulently through what they referred to as “vendor deception.”
In recent years, the SBA has claimed the diversion of federal small business contracts to large corporations has been the result of harmless "miscoding." In May of 2007, the SBA even went as far as to claim that it was a "myth" that large corporations received federal small business contracts. (http://www.asbl.com/documents/sbamythvfact.pdf)
“We are going to continue to sue the SBA to force the release of information that shows they have encouraged and protected firms that have committed felony contracting fraud,” ASBL President Lloyd Chapman said. “The proposal to combine the SBA with the Commerce Department is just the latest attempt by the government to cover up billions of dollars in abuse, while trying to further dismantle federal small business contracting programs.”
-###-
Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn@asbl.com
(707) 789-9575
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Commerce Department & SBA Merger Could Cost Small Business Billions
Petaluma, Calif. – On November 10, the Obama Administration’s National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform shocked the small business community with the preliminary recommendation that the Small Business Administration (SBA) be absorbed by the U.S. Department of Commerce. The recommendation came as part of a plan that would cut federal spending by $200 billion through 2015.
The Small Business Administration (SBA) is the only federal agency to assist America’s chief job creators, its 27 million small businesses. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, small businesses are responsible for more than 90 percent of all net new jobs, 50.2 percent of the non-farm private sector workforce, 50 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) and 90 percent of exports and innovations.
As early as November 2008, American Small Business League (ASBL) President Lloyd Chapman predicted that the Obama Administration would attempt to close the SBA by merging it with the Commerce Department. “Based upon the extremely low priority that Obama has placed upon small business issues, it would not surprise me if he tried to completely close the Small Business Administration by combining it with the United States Department of Commerce," Chapman stated.
According to the commission chairs, combining the SBA with the Commerce Department, and shaving its combined budget by 10 percent would save a paltry $1 billion by 2015. However, the ASBL maintains that any savings resulting from a merger would be minuscule and fiscally insignificant in comparison to the staggering damage it would do to the middle class. The savings are especially insignificant when compared to $23 billion in Iraq contracts reported as, “Lost, Stolen, or unaccounted for,” by the BBC in 2008.
“Trying to save money by combining the SBA with the U.S. Department of Commerce is laughable. Not only would combining the SBA with the Department of Commerce save a minuscule amount of money, but it would also do irreparable damage to the nation’s middle class economy. I have been predicting that the Obama Administration would try to do this for a long time. This is not a move to save money. This is a move to try to allow large corporations to keep billions in federal small business contracts,” Chapman said. “Here we are in the worst economic downturn in 80 years. We should be doing everything we can to help small businesses, not destroy the one federal agency designed to help them.”
-###-
Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn@asbl.com
(707) 789-9575
The Small Business Administration (SBA) is the only federal agency to assist America’s chief job creators, its 27 million small businesses. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, small businesses are responsible for more than 90 percent of all net new jobs, 50.2 percent of the non-farm private sector workforce, 50 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) and 90 percent of exports and innovations.
As early as November 2008, American Small Business League (ASBL) President Lloyd Chapman predicted that the Obama Administration would attempt to close the SBA by merging it with the Commerce Department. “Based upon the extremely low priority that Obama has placed upon small business issues, it would not surprise me if he tried to completely close the Small Business Administration by combining it with the United States Department of Commerce," Chapman stated.
According to the commission chairs, combining the SBA with the Commerce Department, and shaving its combined budget by 10 percent would save a paltry $1 billion by 2015. However, the ASBL maintains that any savings resulting from a merger would be minuscule and fiscally insignificant in comparison to the staggering damage it would do to the middle class. The savings are especially insignificant when compared to $23 billion in Iraq contracts reported as, “Lost, Stolen, or unaccounted for,” by the BBC in 2008.
“Trying to save money by combining the SBA with the U.S. Department of Commerce is laughable. Not only would combining the SBA with the Department of Commerce save a minuscule amount of money, but it would also do irreparable damage to the nation’s middle class economy. I have been predicting that the Obama Administration would try to do this for a long time. This is not a move to save money. This is a move to try to allow large corporations to keep billions in federal small business contracts,” Chapman said. “Here we are in the worst economic downturn in 80 years. We should be doing everything we can to help small businesses, not destroy the one federal agency designed to help them.”
-###-
Contact:
Christopher Gunn
Communications Director
American Small Business League
cgunn@asbl.com
(707) 789-9575
Monday, November 8, 2010
New York Congresswoman Backs Bill to Bring Billions in Contracts to State
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 8, 2010
Petaluma, Calif. – New York Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (D – 14) has offered her support for legislation that would infuse the state’s business community with billions of dollars in existing government infrastructure spending, save thousands of small businesses and create countless jobs.
H.R. 2568, the Fairness and Transparency in Contracting Act would end widespread fraud and abuse in federal small business contracting programs, while ensuring that the federal government is meeting its 23 percent small business contracting goal. The federal government has a congressionally mandated goal of awarding 23 percent of the total value of all prime contracts to small businesses.
“I admire the American Small Business League’s efforts to make sure that small businesses get their fair share of federal contracts. Since small firms are the engine of our economy, this mission could not be more timely or more necessary,” Representative Maloney said. “I look forward to working with the American Small Business League and my friend and colleague Congressman Johnson to make sure that the Fairness and Transparency in Contracting Act becomes law.”
Since 2003, over a dozen federal investigations have shown that billions of dollars in federal small business contracts have been diverted to corporate giants. In Report 5-15, the Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General (SBA IG) referred to the problem as, "One of the most important challenges facing the SBA and the entire Federal government today." (http://www.sba.gov/IG/05-15.pdf)
H.R. 2568 will stop large businesses from taking federal small business contracts by perfecting the Small Business Act's definition of a small business as "independently owned." The bill would prevent the federal government from awarding small business contracts to publicly traded firms, because they are publicly owned and would not qualify as "independently owned."
The American Small Business League has estimated that if passed H.R. 2568 would redirect more than $100 billion a year in federal spending to the nation’s 27 million small businesses. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, small businesses are responsible for more than 90 percent of all net new jobs, 50.2 percent of the non-farm private sector workforce, 50 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) and 90 percent of exports and innovations. (http://www.sba.gov/advo/research/rs359.pdf)
New York's more than 2 million small businesses are receiving a fraction of the dollars they should be receiving. If signed into law, small businesses in the State of New York could see their volume of federal contracts increase by several billion dollars a year.
-###-
November 8, 2010
Petaluma, Calif. – New York Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (D – 14) has offered her support for legislation that would infuse the state’s business community with billions of dollars in existing government infrastructure spending, save thousands of small businesses and create countless jobs.
H.R. 2568, the Fairness and Transparency in Contracting Act would end widespread fraud and abuse in federal small business contracting programs, while ensuring that the federal government is meeting its 23 percent small business contracting goal. The federal government has a congressionally mandated goal of awarding 23 percent of the total value of all prime contracts to small businesses.
“I admire the American Small Business League’s efforts to make sure that small businesses get their fair share of federal contracts. Since small firms are the engine of our economy, this mission could not be more timely or more necessary,” Representative Maloney said. “I look forward to working with the American Small Business League and my friend and colleague Congressman Johnson to make sure that the Fairness and Transparency in Contracting Act becomes law.”
Since 2003, over a dozen federal investigations have shown that billions of dollars in federal small business contracts have been diverted to corporate giants. In Report 5-15, the Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General (SBA IG) referred to the problem as, "One of the most important challenges facing the SBA and the entire Federal government today." (http://www.sba.gov/IG/05-15.pdf)
H.R. 2568 will stop large businesses from taking federal small business contracts by perfecting the Small Business Act's definition of a small business as "independently owned." The bill would prevent the federal government from awarding small business contracts to publicly traded firms, because they are publicly owned and would not qualify as "independently owned."
The American Small Business League has estimated that if passed H.R. 2568 would redirect more than $100 billion a year in federal spending to the nation’s 27 million small businesses. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, small businesses are responsible for more than 90 percent of all net new jobs, 50.2 percent of the non-farm private sector workforce, 50 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) and 90 percent of exports and innovations. (http://www.sba.gov/advo/research/rs359.pdf)
New York's more than 2 million small businesses are receiving a fraction of the dollars they should be receiving. If signed into law, small businesses in the State of New York could see their volume of federal contracts increase by several billion dollars a year.
-###-
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
