State and local governments can now buy homeland security equipment and services through GSA Schedules.

President Bush signed the Local Preparedness Acquisitions Act on June 25. It expands GSA’s cooperative purchasing program to open Schedule 84 to state and local agencies.

They will be able to buy such items as alarm systems, facility management systems, firefighting and rescue equipment, law enforcement and security equipment, and marine craft.

Federal Acquisition Service Commissioner Jim Williams said, “GSA’s ability to leverage the federal government’s enormous buying power enables us to provide goods and services at best value and pass the savings on to our client agencies.

GSA officials have said they hope to open all schedules to state and local governments.

With Congress facing a Sept. 30 deadline to reauthorize the Small Business Innovation Research program, venture capital groups are lobbying hard to regain eligibility for grants.

The House has passed legislation that would permit grants to VC-controlled companies, but the Senate has not acted on the legislation. Companies at least 51% owned by venture-capital firms were eligible for SBIR grants until 2003.

Senate Small Business Committee Chairman John Kerry is working to craft a compromise, the Wall Street Journal reported. Kerry’s proposal would allow grants to VC-controlled firms, but would limit the number of those firms that could receive money.

SBIR grants are designed to support cutting-edge research and push new technologies into the commercial marketplace. Some small business groups argue that VC-controlled firms are typically backed by multimillion-dollar investments, and have less need for government support than others.

Biotechnology firms especially argue that they need SBIR funding because much of their basic research is years away from earning a return.

The Office of Management and Budget has approved the Army’s proposal to add five new generals in contracting positions. OMB had earlier questioned the cost of the move.

Putting military brass in charge of contracting was a key recommendation of the Gansler Commission, a panel that examined Army contracting last year. The commission said the presence of general officers would ensure that procurement issues were brought to the table during planning for military operations.

The commission said procurement was not a popular career path for officers because there was no opportunity for promotion to general.

The Army plan calls for a two-star general to head the new Contracting Command, with two one-stars as deputies. A two-star would take over a staff position at the Pentagon, and a one-star would become procurement chief of the Corps of Engineers.

A small number of “high-impact” firms power American job growth, according to a study released by SBA’s Office of Advocacy.

“While high-impact firms make up about five percent of firms with employees, their effects are huge,” said Brian Headd, an economist with the Office of Advocacy. “Surprisingly, the study also shows that these firms are on average around 25 years old, they are not predominantly high-tech, and they exist in every region of the country.”

The study by Zoltan Acs, High-Impact Firms: Gazelles Revisited, finds such firms account for almost all employment and revenue growth in the economy, while nearly all job losses came from large, low-impact firms.