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Obama Creates Task Force, New Website to Help Small Businesses

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obamaPresident Barack Obama yesterday signed an executive order requiring federal Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra and federal Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra to create a website that tracks agency progress in meeting all small-business goals, as well as calling for the creation of a task force that will ensure small businesses have a fair chance in competing for federal contracts.

In a presidential memorandum, Obama detailed how Kundra and Chopra within 90 days will develop a website that illustrates the participation of small businesses, including those owned by women, minorities, socially and economically disadvantaged individuals, and service-disabled veterans of U.S. armed forces, in federal contracting.

“To foster greater accountability and transparency in, and allow oversight of, the federal government’s progress, this website shall be designed to encourage improved collection, verification, and availability of federal procurement data and provide accurate data on the federal government’s progress in ensuring that all small businesses have a fair chance to participate in federal contracting opportunities,” Obama wrote in the memo.

Ensuring that all small businesses have a chance to participate in federal-contracting opportunities, Obama ordered the establishment of an Interagency Task Force on Federal Contracting Opportunities for Small Businesses, which will be led by the secretary of commerce, the Office of Management and Budget director, and the administrator of the Small Business Administration.

“I am committed to ensuring that small businesses, including firms owned by women, minorities, socially and economically disadvantaged individuals, and service-disabled veterans, have fair access to federal government contracting,” Obama wrote. “Indeed, where small businesses have the capacity to do more, we should strive to exceed the statutory goals. … [S]mall-business contracting should always be a high priority in the procurement process.”

3 Comments

  1. Our small business community has major problems in accessing contracts from both the City of Houston and the Metropolitan Transit Authority (METRO) which will shortly receive over $950 Million in federal funds for primes for our rail projects, with $350 Million for small business. METRO has allowed the prime contractors and engineering firms to pick and choose the small business subcontractors. The primes are allowed to do this without accountability to our small business utilization plans or the 35% small business participation required. Primes always complain there is not enough small business resources to perform the work.

    We have actively been addressing this matter with METRO without success. The out of state and out of town General Engineering Contractor and Engineering Primes are taking money from these projects without accountability to small business. Both METRO and the City of Houston are bundling large $50 /$90 /$250 million dollar projects which prevent small businesses from competing.

    Thus I am requesting President Obama’s help with the Interagency Task Force on Small Business to keep these funds in our community and enable our Small Business Community to manage/monitor these funds.

  2. Don’t take this the wrong way but I’ve heard this kind of thing before from other Obama fans.Obama is playing the same game all politicians play… he’s no different then the rest of them if you ask me.

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