Short Staff Slows SBA Contracting SBA is scrambling to keep up with its contracting workload as its procurement staff has shrunk. The agency’s inspector general said the contracting staff had shrunk from 13 people last June to just seven in February. At the same time, the office was trying to deal with an increase in contract actions under the Recovery Act. “We believe that the current workforce is insufficient to effectively award, administer, and oversee Recovery Act contracts as well as the other contracts managed by [the Office of Business Operations],” Debra Ritt, SBA’s associate inspector general for auditing, wrote in an April 9 report. “Without adequate staff to perform contract execution, administration functions, and to oversee the contractors supporting OBO, the Agency is exposed to increased risk for mismanagement, improper payments, fraud, waste, and abuse.” In addition, SBA’s business office had no permanent director; the acting director, who was also serving as chief of financial and administrative operations, told the IG he was not knowledgeable about contracting. SBA said it was moving to hire five additional contractors to help shoulder the workload