When President Joe Biden directed federal agencies to increase contracting spending with small, disadvantaged businesses by 50 percent over the next five years, Bibi Hidalgo, the associate administrator of Small Business Administration’s Office of Government Contract- ing and Business Development, pledged that her office would take steps to ensure that agencies make the Pres- ident’s contracting goals a reality.
In an interview with National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) President & CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., Hidalgo noted that current pending legislation would immediately establish 15 percent of federal contracting dollars to small, disadvantaged businesses.
In December, after the Biden administration announced reforms to the federal procurement process that increased the share of small and disadvantaged businesses in the federal contracting base, U.S. Black Chambers Inc. (USBC) President Ron Busby offered resounding applause.
He said the USBC had long called for the change and had worked with the White House to ensure that new policies would open more significant opportunities for Black business owners to contract with the federal government.
“Black owned small businesses only receive 1.67 percent of all federal contracts,” Busby told Dr. Chavis.
“White owned small businesses received 15.64 percent, and that underscores the need for additional support for Black owned small businesses to obtain access to federal contracting opportunities so that they could remain competitive,” Busby remarked.