Blanket purchase agreements can be a significant source of revenue for small firms, according to a report by Eagle Eye Publishers. In fiscal 2004 Eagle Eye found agencies bought $2.3 billion worth of goods and services through 4,671 BPAs. Nearly 45% of the dollars went to small businesses.

BPAs work “like charge accounts,” says Eagle Eye President Paul Murphy, but unlike a credit card, they have no limit. Some small business advocates have expressed fears that large-volume purchases through BPAs would squeeze out small firms.

Northrop Grumman announced it will close its computer resale business rather than try to find a buyer for the unit. Northrop Grumman Enterprise Information Technology, based in Greenbelt, MD, employs about 365 people.

Industry analysts said resellers face price pressures and tough competition from manufacturers that sell directly to the government.

The government may not meet its October deadline for deploying smart-card identification for employees and contractors.

The General Accounting Office reported the effort to roll out a governmentwide ID has hit a number of snags, both technological and bureaucratic.

The Bush administration’s original guidelines said the cards should carry two of the person’s electronic fingerprints. GAO said reading such a card could take as much as 30 seconds, creating long lines at the entrance to federal buildings.

In addition, GAO said most agencies have not budgeted for the cost of buying cards and scanning equipment.

The Energy Department failed to justify a sole-source contract award and may have intentionally discouraged competition, the Government Accountability Office found.

GAO sustained a protest by two small businesses, M.D. Thompson Consulting of Germantown, MD, and PMTech of Arvada, CO, over an award to Computer Sciences Corp.

GAO said Energy awarded CSC a nine-month bridge contract for various support services while the department completed its procurement of a follow-on contract. But the presolicitation notice for the bridge contract declared that only CSC could fulfill the requirement, without explaining what the requirement was.

GAO concluded that the notice “discouraged, and may have been intended to discourage, responses.”

GAO said Energy should promptly issue a revised synopsis and evaluate any offers.

The decision is Matter of: M.D. Thompson Consulting, LLC; PMTech, Inc., file B-297616; B-297616.2 at www.gao.gov.

Small and medium-sized manufacturers account for 40% of the value of U.S. production and employ more than 8 million people, according to a report by the Manufacturing Institute.

Small manufacturers are defined as those with fewer than 500 employees; mediums have fewer than 2,500. The Institute said there are 296,000 such companies, almost all privately owned.

The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation has launched initiative to help minority-owned businesses chase contracts for rebuilding of Gulf Coast communities following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.

The foundation said it will provide coaching and training to minority entrepreneurs and will coordinate information about rebuilding contracts. It plans to open an office in the Gulf region.

For more information, go to www.kauffman.org.