With the October release of the Biden administration’s National Strategy on Gender Equality, the president pledged to invest in women’s entrepreneurship and, "more equitably include women-owned businesses in supply chains and contracting." We can start by using the government’s purchasing power to grow digital services contracting opportunities for women-owned businesses.
Goals are not being met
Federal “set-asides” were established to put small business owners from disadvantaged backgrounds on more equitable footing when pursuing government contracts. Women comprise 43 percent of the federal workforce and roughly 57 percent of the U.S. civilian workforce, but the Small Business Administration goal for women-owned businesses awards remains at a mere 5 percent. Even that modest goal is rarely met. According to the SBA’s small business procurement scorecard, we have achieved it only two times in the scorecard’s sixteen year history, in fiscal years 2015 and 2019.
The numbers are equally bleak when you look at the digital services space. From fiscal year 2018 through the present, USASpending.gov data shows a total of 25,745 awards set-aside for small businesses, about 37 percent of all digital services contract awards. However, only 569, or less than 1 percent, were set aside for Women Owned Small Businesses (WOSBs) or Economically Disadvantaged Women Owned Small Businesses (EDOWSBs).
Continue reading: https://fcw.com/articles/2021/12/02/comment-edwosb.aspx
Goals are not being met
Federal “set-asides” were established to put small business owners from disadvantaged backgrounds on more equitable footing when pursuing government contracts. Women comprise 43 percent of the federal workforce and roughly 57 percent of the U.S. civilian workforce, but the Small Business Administration goal for women-owned businesses awards remains at a mere 5 percent. Even that modest goal is rarely met. According to the SBA’s small business procurement scorecard, we have achieved it only two times in the scorecard’s sixteen year history, in fiscal years 2015 and 2019.
The numbers are equally bleak when you look at the digital services space. From fiscal year 2018 through the present, USASpending.gov data shows a total of 25,745 awards set-aside for small businesses, about 37 percent of all digital services contract awards. However, only 569, or less than 1 percent, were set aside for Women Owned Small Businesses (WOSBs) or Economically Disadvantaged Women Owned Small Businesses (EDOWSBs).
Continue reading: https://fcw.com/articles/2021/12/02/comment-edwosb.aspx
