Competed 8(a) set-asides fell by more than half in two years
Number of 8(a) firms dropped by 15% from 2017-2019
Small businesses owned by disadvantaged individuals saw growth in federal contract awards in the last two years, but not from the set-asides that target their group.
The small disadvantaged firms that participated in the Small Business Administration’s 8(a) Business Development program experienced a steep 57% drop in awards won through competitive 8(a) set-asides, tumbling from $8 billion to less than $4 billion, from fiscal 2017-2019, according to Set-Aside Alert’s analysis of data from the SBA and USASpending.gov.
Non-competitive sole-source set-aside awards to 8(a)s also decreased, by 15.7%, during those years.
Meanwhile, the number of 8(a) firms also declined during that time period, from 5,260 companies in March of 2017 to 4,450 companies in August of 2019, according to annual management reports from the SBA’s Office of Inspector General. ...more....
