GSA Scandal Underscores Need for Government Contracting Oversight, According to the American Small Business League

PETALUMA, Calif.--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--The following is a statement by the American Small Business League:

“And the diversion of federal small business contracts to large companies is a major problem for the economy. It is time for these abuses to end.”

The American Small Business League (ASBL) is calling on Congress and federal watchdogs to investigate government contracting officers and federal agencies that repeatedly fail to follow procurement regulations. This follows a report from the General Services Administration Office of Inspector General that found the GSA awarded a contract earmarked for a small business to a large business.

The GSA awarded the contract to Royal Productions for “Audio Visual Services” at the GSA’s now infamous Las Vegas team building conference, the 2010 Western Regions Conference (WRC). A GSA OIG report, followed by the release of a series of videos of GSA employees at the WRC, has brought national attention to the unacceptable way the U.S. government spends taxpayer dollars.

The ASBL is requesting that the House Small Business Committee, the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, the Department of Justice and the Government Accountability Office investigate why contracting officers and federal agencies continue to award contracts earmarked for small businesses to large companies.

During the past decade federal agencies have awarded federal small business contracts to companies such as Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, British Aerospace, Apple, Home Depot, Motorola, Xerox, Dell Computers and thousands of other large companies.

Since 2003, more than a dozen federal investigations have found that billions of dollars in federal small business contracts have been awarded to large companies. In October 2011, the Small Business Administration Office Inspector General released a report naming the issue of government agencies awarding small business contracts to large companies as the SBA’s #1 management challenge.

The U.S. government is the world’s largest buyer of goods and services, and small businesses are the nation’s engine of economic growth; according to U.S. Census Bureau data, small businesses create more than 90 percent of net new jobs. By failing to comply with procurement policies aimed at helping small businesses, federal agencies are doing severe damage to the U.S. economy.

“Federal spending is obviously out of control,” said ASBL President Lloyd Chapman. “And the diversion of federal small business contracts to large companies is a major problem for the economy. It is time for these abuses to end.”