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Fair share for women?
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February 23, 2001: 6:21 a.m. ET
New GAO study reveals women-owned firms left behind in fed contracting
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - The General Accounting Office, in a study released this week, warned that there may be even more problems ahead for women-owned businesses trying to garner their fair share of the federal contracting pie.
At the heart of the problem is the shrinking number of procurement officers, who are charged with aiding small businesses in receiving federal contracts, at the Department of Defense.
The study said the number of procurement officers has declined by 50 percent since the early 1990s. Inadequate staffing, the study warned, threatens the ability of DOD to meet its goals of contracting with small business and women-owned businesses.
The study came about as a result of a summit of women-owned businesses organized late last year by U.S. Senator Christopher "Kit" Bond (R-Mo.), chairman of the U.S. Senate Small Business Committee. A number of women business owners expressed their belief that DOD was not meeting its goal of extending 5 percent of its available contracts to women-owned businesses, said Bond spokesman Craig Orfield.
May not be meeting contracting goal
By statute, 5 percent of all federal contracts are supposed to land in the hands of women-owned businesses. Bond, a leading critic in Congress of the way federal agencies track their contracting obligations, has questioned whether the government is actually achieving that goal.
"While federal contracts awarded to women-owned businesses have increased at a faster rate than overall federal contracting during the past four years, limited progress has been made in meeting the critical 5 percent goal and in spreading that opportunity throughout the federal agencies," said Bond. "It simply isn't enough to set a goal and hope agencies attain it. Congress must make certain that the goal for women-owned small business becomes a reality and not just a goal."
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The GAO's report supplied us with a valuable lesson. This report leaves no doubt that DOD contracts can either make or break efforts to meet the government-wide contracting goal of five percent for women-owned business.
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U.S. Senator Christopher "Kit" Bond |
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Bond has focused his attack on DOD because it is by far the single largest contractor in the federal government. The GAO report stated that DOD holds a central role in providing contracting opportunities for women-owned small business. If the Pentagon falls short, according to the GAO, the government-wide goals for contracting with women-owned businesses will not be met.
"The GAO's report supplied us with a valuable lesson," said Bond. "This report leaves no doubt that DOD contracts can either make or break efforts to meet the government-wide contracting goal of 5 percent for women-owned business."
Bond has also asked the GAO to study the data supplied by primary contractors on their subcontracting achievements. The Small Business Administration, at the direction of Congress, has also begun a study within its contract assistance office for women-owned businesses, of federal contracting practices to identify industries in which women-owned small businesses are underrepresented.
Bond said all the information in these efforts will help Congress determine what the federal government needs to do to ensure it meets its contracting goals for women-owned businesses. 
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