Geography of govcon

      A new report by the Brookings think tank urges greater geographic distribution of federal contracts as one of the major reforms needed to improve federal acquisition.

      The report names the top states in federal contracting as of fiscal 2021 as Virginia ($72 billion); Texas ($55 billion); California ($52 billion); Maryland ($36 billion) and the District of Columbia ($31 billion).

      Overall, 59% of federal contracts ($392 billion of $665 billion in fiscal 2021) goes to just a dozen states, wrote the report’s author Darrell M. West, senior fellow at Brookings.

      “The other 38 jurisdictions fight over a relatively small portion of the financial pie and are not very successful at winning government contracts. That breeds cynicism and mistrust in the public sector, which reverberates politically and economically,” he wrote.

      West recommended incorporating geography as “a serious factor” in awarding government contracts to improve the “equity” of the process.

More information:
Brookings report: https://bit.ly/43ZIH7s

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Geography of govcon

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