The Congressional Budget Office reports small businesses are feeling the pinch from the call-up of military reserves. Almost one-fifth of reservists and National Guardsmen who hold civilian jobs work for companies with fewer than 100 employees or are self-employed, CBO said. One-third of them work for businesses with fewer than 500 employees.

Sen. Olympia Snowe, chair of the Senate Small Business Committee, has called for additional funding for the SBA’s Office of Veteran Business Development. The office provides emergency loans to small firms when owners or key employees are called to active duty.

The committee’s senior Democrat, Sen. John Kerry (MA), is sponsoring legislation to provide tax credits for companies with 50 employees or fewer to cover the cost of hiring temporary replacements for reservists.

Nearly half a million reserves and Guard personnel have been activated since 9/11.

HUBZone companies and firms owned by service-disabled veterans are now eligible for the Defense Department’s mentor-protégé program. DOD published an interim rule effective May 24 to implement the change that was enacted by Congress last year.

Congress also extended the mentor-protégé program through Sept. 30, 2010. DOD says it has 134 active mentor-protégé arrangements.

The Government Accountability Office is sustaining more protests over procurement actions. GAO figures show the agency sustained 20.5% of protests in fiscal 2004, up from 16% in 2002.

The number of protests has been growing, but not as fast as the growth in federal spending.

Washington lawyer John McCarthy Jr. found that protests of GSA schedule procurements are sustained more than twice as often as other protests, Federal Times reported. McCarthy and other industry officials said GAO is paying more attention to out-of-scope contracting through the schedules.

The head of a new Procurement Fraud Working Group said criminal investigators will pursue complaints of theft of intellectual property.

Paul McNulty, U.S. attorney for the eastern district of Virginia, urged companies to come forward if they believe another firm has stolen their ideas or technology. “The FBI wants to do more of this,” he told a Washington conference sponsored by the National Small Business Association May 12.

The Working Group was established after the Air Force procurement scandal broke last year. It includes prosecutors and investigators from the Defense Department and FBI.

SBA has announced a periodic review of several major programs, as required by law.

Over the next 12 months, the agency will review rules governing size regulations; 8(a)/small disadvantaged business status determinations; government contracting programs; and the HUBZone Program. Public comments are due by July 31. See the May 16 Federal Register for details.

The agency is required to review all major rules at least once every 10 years.

President Bush has named Tami Longaberger, CEO of The Longaberger Company of Newark, OH, to be the next chair of the National Women’s Business Council. She will succeed Marilyn Carlson Nelson on June 1.

The council advises the president and Congress on issues affecting women entrepreneurs.