WASHINGTON, D.C. – Small businesses realized $7 billion in first-year cost savings and $745 million in annually recurring savings as a result of fiscal year (FY) 2009 efforts to help agencies comply with the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA). The law requires agencies to review the economic impacts of proposed regulations on small entities and consider less burdensome alternatives. The figures are reported in the FY 2009 edition of the Office of Advocacy’s annual Report on the Regulatory Flexibility Act. (http://www.sba.gov/advo/laws/flex/09regflx.html)

“Small firms are better equipped to do what they do best—grow the economy—when they are given regulations that are less burdensome and duplicative,” said Acting Chief Counsel for Advocacy Susan M. Walthall. “Federal agencies are learning that the RFA is an extremely valuable tool to help them consider the impact of their rules on small business while still meeting regulatory goals.”

The Regulatory Flexibility Act was enacted in 1980 in an effort to give small businesses, small nonprofits, and small government entities a voice in the rulemaking process. Together with Executive Order 13272, the RFA as amended by the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act encourages agencies to enact regulations that are more rational without negating the intent of the rules. The law requires the Office of Advocacy to report annually on agency compliance with the RFA.

In FY 2009, Advocacy reviewed hundreds of regulations to assess RFA compliance, convened numerous roundtables to solicit the priorities and comments of small entity stakeholders, and submitted more than 30 public comment letters to federal agencies on regulatory proposals.

The Office of Advocacy, the “small business watchdog” of the federal government, examines the role and status of small business in the economy and independently represents the views of small businesses to federal agencies, Congress, and the President. It is the source for small business statistics presented in user-friendly formats, and it funds research into small business issues.

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The Office of Advocacy of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is an independent voice for small business within the federal government. The Chief Counsel for Advocacy advances the views, concerns, and interests of small business before Congress, the White House, federal agencies, federal courts, and state policymakers. For more information, visit www.sba.gov/advo, or call (202) 205-6533.

Follow SBA news and announcements via Twitter at: http://twitter.com/smallbusinessad/

NAMGC is asking the GovCon community for input to assist them in developing the best possible programs to serve the credit union members. They are asking interested parties to complete the voluntarily survey linked t0 below and to submit it via email to info@namgc.org.

http://www.namgc.org/NAMGC_GCFCU_Survey.html

NAMGC President, Alpha Roberts, invites you to contact her via email with any questions regarding their proposed federal credit union at alpharoberts@namgc.org.

Links:

National Association of Minority Government Contractors (NAMGC): http://www.namgc.org/

National Credit Union Administration (NCUA): http://www.ncua.gov/

Bethesda, MD (PRWEB) February 8, 2010 — Carroll Publishing, the nation’s leading provider of top quality government contact solutions, announced today the launch of new purchasing “transactions” content, expanding the coverage of its online database services. The Company’s Federal government “transactions” addition is part of a focused initiative to develop its GovSearch™ product line into a comprehensive research tool that can fully assist companies in doing business with the Federal government.

The new data is the purchasing history of products and services by the Federal government, with detail including dollars spent, contract completion dates and vendors from whom the government made its purchases. Users can access the data by selecting from a product/service category, by a Federal department or by a funding office. As an added benefit, this purchasing data is linked directly to the funding office key contacts and decision makers.

With the launch of “transactions,” subscribers will have timely, one-stop access to find and track where the government is spending money. By using the database service, subscribers can effectively render strategies for positioning their companies in the government marketplace. This data is seamlessly integrated with the government contact files to take the user directly to the funding office linked to the “transaction” – an exclusive feature only delivered by Carroll Publishing.

Bill Wade, President of Carroll Publishing said, “We are pleased to announce a total database solution that will help provide our customers the most comprehensive access available to the Federal government’s purchasing activities. We have transformed our product to set us apart from the competition and truly impact the delivery of government information today.”

The launch of purchasing transactions is part of a focused effort by Carroll Publishing in expanding its online services to become the essential research tool for doing business with the government.

To register for a free trial of the database go to www.carrollpub.com/transactionsPR.asp.

About Carroll Publishing Carroll Publishing, in business since 1974, maintains a robust database of government contact information for federal, state, municipal and county government levels, including the federal and defense industry contractors. Exclusive to its offering are published and real-time organization charts detailing reporting structures within the government. Products are delivered as a subscription website, CRM-friendly data sets, print directories and organizations charts, and Real-time XML Delivery, offering on-demand access.

Mary Landrieu

WASHINGTON, Feb. 1  – Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship Chair Mary L. Landrieu, D-La., today praised the Small Business Administration (SBA) components of President Obama’s budget proposal. For the second year in a row, the President has proposed increasing funding for the SBA and its programs, taking decisive steps to rebuild the SBA after eight years of cuts. The request proposes to increase funding to the agency by $170 million from last year’s enacted level, to $994 million. This, along with new small business job-creating proposals the President outlined in his State of the Union address last week, show the Obama Administration’s strong support for small businesses.
“By requesting more money to help our small businesses succeed, President Obama’s budget proposal emphasizes that small business remains a top priority for the Administration and is central to the President’s efforts to create jobs,” Sen. Landrieu said.

“As part of his budget, the President again showed his support for increasing the caps on small business loans as a way to provide small businesses with immediate capital to grow and hire workers. This is a proposal I, along with Ranking Member Olympia Snowe, introduced last year. It has since gained even more bipartisan support and passed the Committee. It is my hope the proposal will be included in any job-creating measure introduced in the Senate.

“While this budget request shows the President’s strong dedication to small businesses, I will work to increase funding for critical counseling programs and restore funding for the Federal and State Technology (FAST) Partnership Program. The FAST program increases small business innovation opportunities and is vital for the growth of rural areas. The program received funding last year for the first time since 2004 and must not disappear.”

The President’s proposed budget:

Expands Access to Capital

• Supports the increase of the maximum 7(a) loan size from $2 million to $5 million, 504 from $1.5 million to $5.5 million and microloans from $35,000 to $50,000. Sen. Landrieu introduced, and the Committee passed, legislation that matches these increases;

• Supports more than $28 billion in small business financing, including $17.5 billion for the 7(a) loan guarantee program, $7.5 billion for the 504 loan guarantee program and $3 billion for the Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) program – which provides venture capital financing to small firms;

• Supports $25 million in microloans, allowing intermediaries to provide small loans to entrepreneurs and start-ups; and

• Provides $5.9 million for the SBA’s international trade and export promotion programs, allowing the Agency to support more than $1.1 billion in capital to small exporters and maintain their network of 18 export finance specialists.

Supports Counseling and Contracting Programs

• Provides $113 million to support about 900 Small Business Development Centers;

• Provides $14 million to support about 100 Women’s Business Centers;

• Provides $7 million to support about 370 chapters of SCORE, a mentoring program involving retired executives;

• Provides $2.2 million for the Historically Underutilized Business Zones program (HUBZones), which creates incentives for contracting with small firms to create jobs in underserved communities;

• Provides $3.4 million for the 7(j) technical assistance program, which provides small disadvantaged businesses with training in financing, business development, management, accounting and marketing;

• Provides $3 million to increase the reach of Emerging Leaders. Graduates of this program – often in distressed areas – have reported significant increases in revenues, government contracts, local hires, and access to financing; and

• Provides $11 million to support the job growth potential found in regional clusters of businesses. These clusters will involve public-private partnerships, which align federal resources with existing regional strengths and economic growth opportunities.

Provides Help for Those hit by a Disaster

• Supports $1.1 billion in direct disaster assistance loans, in line with the 10-year average;

• Includes a legislative proposal that would extend, from three to seven years, the maximum term for businesses that want an SBA disaster loan but have an existing line of credit with a bank or have enough cash on hand where they could get a conventional loan from non-SBA sources; and

• Requests $203 million to support for administrative expenses for the disaster program – an increase of $126 million from last year’s enacted level. These funds are critical in supporting SBA’s effort to efficiently and effectively service its $8.4 billion active loan portfolio.

Reduces Risk and Increases Oversight

• Provides $2 million to strengthen lender oversight and on-site reviews to ensure taxpayer dollars are going to those who need help the most;

• Provides $4 million to improve oversight of government contracting programs, including the HUBZone program, and to strengthen performance assessment and management of the Small Business Innovation Research program; and

• Provides $1.1 million to evaluate the SBA’s loan, counseling and other programs to optimize effectiveness.

SOURCE U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship

Contact:
Vicki Ekstrom, +1-202-224-9431, Victoria_Ekstrom@sbc.senate.gov or Richard Carbo, +1-202-224-3655, Richard_Carbo@sbc.senate.gov, both of the Office of the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship

They offer a free monthly webinar designed to support small businesses interested in obtaining a GSA Multiple Award Schedules contract. To attend you will simply need to register.

If you have questions regarding these webinars or would like to register, please visit the GSA Events page: GSA Events

Webinars available on:
2/22
3/15
4/26
5/17
6/14
7/19
8/16
9/20
10/18
11/15

“During these difficult economic times, it is imperative that we provide small and minority businesses with the necessary tools to drive economic growth and create jobs in their communities,” said SBA Administrator Karen Mills. “Far too often, minority-owned small businesses and entrepreneurs encounter hurdles to getting capital, contracts and other assistance to help them succeed in the marketplace. Making sure we do all we can to remove these hurdles is a top priority for SBA and the Obama Administration.”

The strategic alliance is part of SBA’s ongoing effort to support small business development initiatives in underserved communities. The agreement allows the organizations to share resources and educate minority entrepreneurs on how to use SBA products and services to establish and grow their businesses.

SBA has supported substantial financing to minority-owned small businesses under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Since the Act was signed into law on Feb. 17, 2009, minority-owned small businesses have received more than $4 billion in SBA-backed loans, about 23 percent of the more than $18.5 billion in small business lending SBA has supported under the Recovery Act. Minority-owned businesses continue to account for about 29 percent of the agency’s overall lending and 37 percent of its microloans.

Minority-owned small businesses also have received more than $3 billion worth of federal contracts under the Recovery Act.

MBRT is a national membership organization for minority CEOs that serves as a unified voice for minority businesses. Through this partnership, the SBA and MBRT intend to help more of these businesses succeed and stimulate economic
growth in their communities and the nation’s economy.

The SBA and MBRT alliance is intended to strengthen and expand small business development across the nation for minority entrepreneurs. SBA will provide MBRT with timely information on the agency’s programs, services and resource partners, participate in roundtable discussions and conferences and advise them on events that will impact their mission.

As part of the resource pooling, MBRT will cooperate with SBA and its resource partners to provide information to members about its business development programs and services, and share current SBA news and information.

The two-year agreement is a renewal of the partnership between the SBA and MBRT and was implemented on January 11, 2010.

Release Date: January 25, 2010
Contact: Tiffani Clements (202) 401-0035
Release Number: 10-01
Internet Address: www.sba.gov/news/
Twitter: www.twitter.com/smallbusinessad/
MBRT: www.mbrt.net/

Edward O'Hare

For example, IT service providers can learn what the IT priorities are at the GSA by following the newly launched blog, ‘Great Government through Technology‘, started and managed by Edward O’Hare – Assistant Commissioner for GSA’s Integrated Technology Services (ITS) portfolio within the Federal Acquisition Service (FAS).

Another great one to follow is the HHS IT blog, Health IT Buzz, which is managed by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT.

There are hundreds of places to “listen” to government executives sharing their priorities and challenges on blogs, on Twitter, in social networks and forums. Help them accomplish their goals and conquer their challenges and you will succeed in reaching your goals.

The CVC is looking for products that are made in the U.S. and manufactured with U.S.-made materials such as educational toys, jewelry, and souvenir apparel whose product themes are focused on the Capitol for its two Gift Shops.

The AOC is looking for goods and services required to maintain its buildings, such as elevators, escalators, air handling units and electrical systems as well as products and services needed to maintain the landscaping around the Capitol complex and conserve and repair historical objects and artwork.

Why you should attend: You will have the opportunity to speak with representatives from the AOC and the CVC who are responsible for procuring materials for the agency and its divisions.

When: Thursday, February 18, 2010; 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. (Check-in begins at 8:30 a.m.)

Where: U.S. Capitol Visitor Center (the main entrance to the U.S. Capitol, is located below the East Plaza of the Capitol between Constitution and Independence Avenues. For directions and other logistical information, go to www.visitthecapitol.gov.)

Cost: Free – Advance registration is required as seating is limited.

To register online, go to www.aoc.gov. For questions, email SBIndustryDay@aoc.gov or call 202-226-2734.

Revenue Trends – Fifty percent of survey participants experienced revenue increases from federal business during the past year, while 20% suffered decreases.

Revenue impact from stimulus spending – Only 4% of surveyed companies anticipate significant revenue increases from the stimulus package.

Management and support headcount – At 14.6%, management and support headcount as a percentage of total headcount is somewhat lower than the 16% reported in last year’s survey.
Profit rate – Profits before interest and taxes continue to be modest in the government contracting industry. Forty-five percent of surveyed companies had either no profit or profit rates between 1% and 5% of revenue in this year’s survey, compared with 37% last year.
Proposal win rates – Survey participants report a 30% win rate from proposals for non-sole-source business. The win rate jumps to 60% when the company establishes a special business unit such as a joint venture or a limited liability corporation to bid the work.
Identifying out-of-scope work – Fifty-six percent of surveyed companies consider their procedures for identifying out-of-scope work to be either not effective or only somewhat effective.
Executive compensation – Executive compensation remains the cost element most frequently challenged by DCAA. DCAA’s methods for questioning these costs tend to be weak and can be challenged from several perspectives.

New compliance regulations – The government has recently expanded requirements for compliance systems which are applicable to most government contractors. Compliance with these regulations is mandatory, and failure to comply can result in prosecution, suspension and debarment.

Recent DCAA developments – DCAA operations have been severely criticized in two recent GAO reports, and as a result there have been major changes in DCAA management and audit procedures. These changes are likely to increase the risks facing government contractors.

Take advantage of this valuable survey Grant Thornton produces for the GovCon community each year. You can view and download (free) here: Grant Thornton Annual GovCon Survey

Whether you agree, disagree, are happy with the outcome, or not, here are some of the opinions I’ve read about what it will mean:

• “loss of a filibuster-proof majority” – Republicans (at least in the Senate) matter again.

• “a debilitating media narrative: that Martha Coakley’s loss was a referendum on the President” – The President will find it far more difficult to persuade nervous Democrats to ignore their constituents and vote with him.

• “in certain ways not having a filibuster-proof majority is politically advantageous to the President. If you have 60 votes, the pressure is on you to deliver every single one of them. If you have 59, the pressure is suddenly on the minority party not to be obstructionist.” – I’ve heard this a couple of times and I agree that an end to the extreme rush to pass sweeping reform will improve the President’s chances of getting relected in 2012.

What this means for business is unclear and will depend on whether truly bi-partisan efforts to invigorate our economy emerge or we go into a phase of stalemate where nothing much gets done.

No matter what your political views are this election will go down as one of the most significant of all time.

Reuters story on Scott Brown, the winner of this historic election: FACTBOX-Massachusetts U.S. Senator Scott Brown