No. 17. Small Disadvantage Business Goals: The Effects of Recent Administrative Changes

August 23, 2023—Emily Murphy, senior fellow of the Baroni Center examines the origins of the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB) contracting program and its prime contracting goals date to 1958, the history of the program is one of ebbs and flows. While the SDB appellation has applied at both the prime and subcontracting level, this paper will concern itself with prime contracting opportunities. However, before examining the data on the SDB program, it is important to understand the origins and evolutions of the program, as they provide the context necessary to assess the current performance of the program.

This paper provides

• A history of the SDB program, then baseline 8(a), non-8(a) SDB, WOSB, HUBZone, and SDVOSB participation in prime contracting prior to the administrative changes in 2021. 
• Analyzes changes in participation in FY 21 and FY 22. 
• Examines changes in the number of SDBs and other socioeconomic firms receiving awards and the methods by which competitive contracts versus contract set aside for the other socioeconomic programs.
• Looksat the NAICS code distribution of the procurements, with an eye to determining how changes in this policy are affecting the ways small businesses participate in the industrial base. 
• Examines whether the increase in SDB goals is serving the Administration’s stated goals.

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