Small Firms Won More Defense Work in 2003 Small businesses’ share of Defense Department contracts increased in fiscal 2003, but the department still fell short of the 23% goal for prime contracting with small firms, according to DOD’s Summary of Procurement Awards. The summary shows small firms received 17%, or $35.6 billion, of the $209 billion spent by DOD on procurements above $25,000, up from 15.6% the year before. In other categories: •Woman-owned businesses won 2.2% of contract dollars in ’03, down from 2.4% the year before, far short of the 5% goal set by Congress. •8(a) firms increased their share to 3%, from 2.5% in ’02. •Small disadvantaged businesses, including 8(a) firms, received 5.5% of the ’03 dollars, up from 5.1%, exceeding the statutory 5% goal. Contracts awarded to HUBZone firms and to those owned by service-disabled veterans were not included in the summary. In the past each of those categories has accounted for less than 1% of the department’s contract dollars. The department’s figures are based on reports on Form D350, the Individual Contracting Action Report on awards over $25,000. The totals do not jibe with those reported by GSA’s Federal Procurement Data System, because of differences in data input, according to an official of DOD’s Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization. The GSA report showed small businesses won 21.2% of Defense dollars in 2002; the 2003 report is not yet available. The Defense Department set aside more than 94,000 contracts for small businesses last year, a 33.5% increase over 2002. Lockheed Martin was again the top defense contractor, with $21.9 billion, followed by Boeing with $17.3 billion. Those two companies received more prime contract dollars than all small businesses combined.