SBA To Boost Procurement Staff SBA will hire several new procurement center representatives and develop an “electronic PCR” to track contracts that might be suitable for set-asides, Administrator Steven Preston said. Briefing reporters on President Bush’s proposed fiscal 2008 budget, Preston said SBA plans to add seven new PCRs this year and five more next year. Those officials monitor agencies’ acquisition planning and recommend set-asides. In recent years their numbers have dwindled to a few dozen, covering hundreds of contracting shops. Preston’s predecessor as SBA administrator, Hector Barreto, repeatedly told Congress that new technology has extended the PCRs’ reach, but small business advocates have been skeptical. SBA’s 2008 budget proposal includes $500,000 “for initiatives to re-engineer business processes in the Office of Government Contracting and Business Development,” according to a summary. The technology will allow each PCR to monitor more contracts, agency officials said. The proposed $433 million budget represents a 17% cut in the funding approved by Congress in 2006. The fiscal 2007 appropriation is still awaiting congressional action, but is expected to be about the same as in 2006. By SBA’s accounting, the 2008 figure is 5% more than President Bush requested in 2006. Congress added to the president’s request. SBA said the budget calls for reduced fees on its loan programs.