SBA releases 2023 federal procurement scorecard

News - Published May 13, 2024

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has released its Small Business Procurement Scorecard for fiscal year 2023. The federal government as a whole was awarded an "A" grade, due in part to reaching a small business utilization rate of 28.4 percent, exceeding the utilization goal of 23 percent. The federal government spent $178.6 billion with small businesses in the 2023 fiscal year, an increase of $15.7 billion over the prior fiscal year.

Ten federal agencies received a grade of "A+" in the scorecard, representing that they met or exceeded their utilization goal by 120 percent, and another twelve agencies received a grade of "A", representing that they met or exceeded their goal by 100 to 119 percent. The scorecard notes that spending with small disadvantaged businesses (SDBs) has exceeded the participation goal for such businesses (12 percent) for a third consecutive year, that spending with service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses (SDVOSBs) has reached 5 percent (exceeding the SDVOSB goal of 3 percent), and that Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) small businesses and women-owned small businesses (WOSBs) received a higher dollar amount in federal spending than has ever been recorded.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) has noted that USDOT has received a grade of "A" for the 15th consecutive year in the 2023 scorecard, due in part to USDOT awarding 2.2 billion dollars in prime and subcontract opportunities to small disadvantaged businesses during that fiscal year.

The SBA notes several initiatives it has embarked on or supported to continue these successes, such as guidance for federal agencies to develop multiple-award contracts with small business participation in mind, launching the "Empower to Grow" training program for SDBs, and revising SBA size standards to allow an additional 78,000 businesses to qualify for SBA programs.

"Through President Biden's Investing in America agenda, we have championed initiatives to fuel the nation’s economy - ensuring competition and a level playing field," said SBA Administrator Isabel Casillas Guzman in a statement.

Read a press release from USDOT on their "A" grade at https://www.transportation.gov/mission/administrations/office-small-and-disadvantaged-business-utilization/usdot-achieves-grade.

Read the press release from SBA on the release of the 2023 scorecard at https://www.sba.gov/article/2024/04/29/biden-harris-administration-awards-record-breaking-178-billion-federal-procurement-opportunities.