Biden seeks boosts to SBA’s GovCon, SBIR, Vets BD & more

Little to no lift for HUBZones, STEP, SCORE & SBDCs

      The Small Business Administration released details for the SBA’s fiscal 2022 budget proposal, outlining significant increases for programs assisting small business federal contractors, entrepreneurs and innovators.

      Under President Joe Biden’s proposed budget, the SBA’s gross new discretionary budget authority would be $852 million, up from $779 million in fiscal 2021. If approved by Congress, that would be a 9.4% expansion of funding.

GovCon and BD Office

      The SBA’s Government Contracting and Business Development Office would receive an 86% increase, from $5.8 million this year to $10.8 million, according to the SBA’s recently-released Fiscal 2022 “Congressional Justification” document.

      The purpose of the large hike in funding is to facilitate the president’s goal of raising federal procurements from Small Disadvantaged Businesses--which are mostly minority-owned--to 15% of all federal buys by 2026, the justification document says. Currently those acquisitions make up about 10% of total federal contract awards.

      The office also will use the additional funds to prepare a certification program for SDVOSBs (Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses), and to manage contracting programs for women-owned and HUBZone firms, SBA stated in the document.

Entrepreneurial Development

      The President’s Budget requests $318 million for SBA’s Entrepreneurial Development program in fiscal 2022, an increase of 17% from the current level of $272 million. The hike is not uniform across the board. Some programs get a large bump, while others little to no increase.

      The programs with the greatest proposed increases in funding from fiscal 2021 to fiscal 2022 are:

• A 400% increase for Growth Accelerators, from $2 million to $10 million;
• A 250% increase for 7(j) Technical Assistance, from $2.8 million to $9.8 million;
• A 150% increase for FAST (Federal and State Technology Partnerships), from $4 million to $10 million;
• A 130% increase for PRIME Technical Assistance, from $5.5 million to $12.5 million;
• An 80% increase for Entrepreneurship Education, from $2.5 million to $4.5 million;
• A 67% increase for Regional Innovation Clusters, from $6 million to $10 million;
• A 50% increase in Native Outreach, from $2 million to $3 million;
• A 36% increase for Veterans Outreach, from $14 million to $19 million;
• A 17% increase in Microloan Technical Assistance, from $35 million to $41 million; and
• A 13% increase for Women’s Business Centers, from $23 million to $26 million.

      Overall, there is a $46 million budget boost proposed for the entrepreneurial development programs. “Increasing funding for these programs will enable the SBA to provide more entrepreneurs with counseling, training, and mentoring services,” the justification document states.

      However, some of the programs get flat funding, including:

• Small Business Development Centers, $136 million, no increase;
• State Trade Expansion Program (STEP), $19.5 million, no increase;
• SCORE, $12.2 million, no increase; and
• HUBZone program, $3 million, no increase.

Total Cost of Programs by Activity

      Some programs do not have line items in the SBA’s operating budget tables. However, they are listed in the tables for “Total Cost of Programs by Activity.”

      These tables show large allocations for SBIR/STTR and for Veterans Business Development and modest expansion for SBA field offices and the SBA Mentor-Protege Program, among others, in fiscal 2022.

      Here are some highlights of the Total Cost of Programs at SBA:

More information:
President’s Budget: https://bit.ly/2TaHrOW
SBA Justification: https://bit.ly/3cxyDcR

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