An Assessment of the Socio-Economic Considerations of the Federal Procurement Process

The Federal Government is increasingly relying on the support of government contractors to support its daily operations. In fiscal year 2000 through 2005 alone, the Department of Defense’s operations and maintenance costs increased 57%, from $133.4B to $209.5B, while service contract costs increased 73% from $55.4B to$95.4B in these past five years alone. These increases are primarily due to a swell of military obligations due to the war on terrorism coupled with no increases in personnel. Sequestration, along with growing fiscal pressures on executive-branch agencies, are responsible for the gradually shrinking workforce, and agencies are rethinking how they operate to minimize cuts to public services. From 2013 to 2014, new employees entering

Any employment contract providing for direct services to a Federal agency by an individual or individuals; or

The U.S. Small Business Administration was founded on July 30, 1953, and has delivered millions of loans, contracts, counseling sessions, loan guarantees, and other types of assistance to small businesses. Even though SBA was formally created in 1953, its philosophy and mission began to form years earlier in other agencies and began largely as a response to the pressures of the Great Depression and World War II (Business, 1988). These events caused mass hardship on the economy, and the best way to promote it again was through small business. The Small Business Preference Program was created to guarantee that small businesses received their fair share of contracts for federal government services and supplies. The intent was to help strengthen the economy by allowing small businesses to get a portion of the property government sold as well. 23% of all Federal-contracting dollars must be awarded to small businesses, and specifically, 5% to women-owned small businesses. There are many different types of small businesses, and each receives a portion of the contract the government gives. The WOSB Program became effective in the FAR on April 1, 2011, and is one of the types of small businesses that are given preferential treatment (SBA.gov).

a. The U.S. Federal government features a main legal requirement to purchase supplies as well as services on a competing and effective basis. Nevertheless, the U.S. Government has additionally applied via the procurement procedure particular guidelines to promote socioeconomic goals. Programs happen to be developed to supply elevated contracting possibilities to small-scale, small-disadvantaged, women-owned-and-run small-scale, HUBZone small-scale, veteran-owned small-scale, and service-disabled veteran-owned small-scale companies. Companies should also adhere to ancillary specifications arising beneath numerous laws and also Executive Orders (A/OPE, 2011).

This essay examines the Buy American requirements of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) which was signed into law in February 2009. The Act provided for $787 billion in spending and tax cuts that were intended to stimulate the U.S. economy. The ARRA provided funds for contracts to be awarded by various federal agencies. These contracts were subject to significant constraints and compliance regulations, including requirements to Buy American.

As a small business owner, I understand all of the difficulties that come with owning a business. I know about failure and have made a ton of mistakes through my business. At the same time, though, I’ve been fortunate enough to have success through my business as well. Other businesses, however, are not so lucky. The small business world is very difficult and the government doesn’t make it any easier. Without the NFIB, no organization would be truly representing the needs of small businesses all across the country. There would be no voice for small businesses at the federal and state levels if the National Federation of Independent Business wasn’t around. If that’s not relevance in the business sector, I’m not exactly sure what is.

The Small Business Act, and subsequent reassuring public laws direct that the Government place a fair portion of its acquisitions, including contracts and subcontracts for subsystems, assemblies, components, and related services for major systems, with Small Business concerns, HUBZone Small Business, Small Disadvantaged Business, Women-Owned Small Business, Veteran-Owned Small Business, Service Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business, Historically Black Colleges and Universities/Minority Institutions, Hispanic-Serving Institutions, and Tribal Council Universities.

The Historically Underutilized Business Zones (HUBzone) is a program created under the Small Business Reauthorization act of 1997. The goal of HUBzone is to “help small businesses in urban and rural communities gain preferential access to federal procurement opportunities.” The program was designed so an increase in federal contract opportunities could in turn promote employment opportunities, investment, and economic development in designated HUBzones. HUBzones are defined as nonmetropolitan counties, qualified census tracts, and lands within an Indian reservation. In order to achieve this goal, almost all federal agencies are required to award 3% of prime contracts to businesses with HUBzone certification. Currently the federal government spends approximately $600 Billion on prime contracts that results in $18 billion in federal contracts awarded to HUBzone contractors. (SBA)

The United States government recently demonstrated and reaffirmed its commitment and endeavors of ensuring that minority-owned and small businesses have greater access to contracting opportunities from the federal government. This commitment was demonstrated by the Obama administration through the announcement of a government-wide strategy by Commerce Secretary, Gary Locke and Karen Mills, Small Business Administrator. The plan includes federal agency procurement officials participating in over 200 events within three months to provide information regarding the federal contracting opportunities. These officials will also share information of contracting opportunities that are available within the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. As part of these plans, small business owners can find the information regarding the available contracting opportunities at FedBizOpps website.

The federal government contracts substantial software projects to independent contractors. The government was disappointed by the quality and nature of the software that is delivered in response contractor commitment. So the military specification 2167A is one standard that the agencies may use constrain that way that software is developed under a government contract.

In the State of Idaho there are a variety of laws that protect the entities of the state and of those laws specifically help the vendors of Public Works Contracts. In the state of Idaho, some of the contracts that are being awarded by the vendors are being received by in-eligible representatives Construction Mangers or General Contractors by in-eligible meaning that CM/GC’s have not met the requirements of becoming an acquired bidder in the auctions. With the policy of Idaho Code 54-4511, protects the vendors from being sued by either firms or the property owners. In this law there are many requirements and many rules that the contractors must follow in order to execute an outstanding contracts. Meanings of having a maximum price, the amount of work that has to be done in a substantiate amount of time and determining how much how you can actually do at the maximum amount of price that was set by CM/GC’s.

The U. S. government spends hundreds of billions of dollars each year buying everything from roads to commodes. And yes, that includes professional services. For example, in the government, marketing is called education and outreach. It includes just about every type of promotional service you can think of including, branding, website development, focus groups, advertising, marketing collateral, trade show support and more. Lisa Martin knows because her firm, LeapFrog Solutions, has been winning and fulfilling contracts with the federal government for 20 years. “We 've worked with nine different agencies—both as a prime contractor and subcontractor—and have provided the government with a full gamut of marketing services, said Ms. Martin. “Government contracts can be a great source of revenue for both new and established businesses. But to get those contracts, you have to understand the process and how to navigate it.”

Small businesses in the United States (U.S.) have a major impact on the economy, affecting employment, sales and patents. The Small Business Association estimated that small businesses account for 54% of all U.S. sales, 55% of existing jobs and 66% of all new jobs. They account for 40% of retail sales, providing employment for 8 million people. Small businesses are responsible for producing 13 times more patents than larger firms, and constitute 40% of business receipts in the United States (Bagley, 2012). Given that small businesses are vital to a thriving economy, government subcontracting plans are essential to support this key component of America’s financial system. The purpose of this paper is to discuss

FAR part 19 breaks down the different types of set-asides. There are three types, total set-asides, partial set-asides, and multiple award contracts when using full and open competition (FAR 2014). The goal of the federal Government is to make certain provisions for small businesses to assist them in competing for federal contracts. Small businesses play an important role in our economy as acknowledged by President Obama when he met with small business leaders in Seattle. He referred to small businesses as “the backbone of our economy and the cornerstones of our communities (Obama, 2010). Most of our job opportunities are generated from small businesses. The intent of the small business set-aside program is to reserve certain contracts for small businesses. This influences the small business ability to win federal contracts. The contract could be of any of the above-mentioned types. The contracting officer can determine if to set-aside an acquisition for a small business. The Small Business Administration (SBA) procurement representative could make recommendations to the contracting officer on when to set-aside. Conversely, the FAR states that unilateral determinations are preferred “to the extent practicable” (FAR, 2014). Before making the decision to set-aside, market research should first be conducted to determine whether it is appropriate.

Small businesses are important to the U.S economy for multiple reasons. According to the U.S Small Business Administration, small businesses represents for 99.7 percent of all employer firms, have generated sixty four percent of new jobs and paid forty four percent of the total united states payroll (Brown, 2017) . Small business is an important role not just in the US economy, but they also play a major role in the growth of the individual community that they are located in. Small businesses give citizens of the community an opportunity for employment by offering jobs that the individuals may not have to have degrees or accolades to qualify for unlike jobs in larger corporations. Although small business is very important to the economy and the community, often times small