United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office Resources, Community, and Economic Development Division author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 1996-09-18 monographic deposited born digital 18 p. GA 1.13:T-RCED-96-259 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-T-RCED-96-259 P0b002ee18039fad8 f:rc96259t DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-24 GAOREPORTS-T-RCED-96-259 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-T-RCED-96-259 T-RCED-96-259 Minority business assistance Small business assistance Competitive procurement Minority business set-asides Federal procurement Contracting procedures Indefinite quantity contracts Sole source procurement SBA 7(j) Management Assistance Program SBA 8(a) Program SBA Executive Education Program SBA Minority Business Development Program Testimony RCED GAO discussed the Small Business Administration's (SBA) 8(a) Minority Business Development Program, focusing on SBA progress in: (1) requiring the competitive award of high-value 8(a) contracts; (2) distributing 8(a) contracts to a larger number of firms; (3) ensuring that firms rely less on 8(a) contracts as they move through the 8(a) program; and (4) graduating from the program firms that have demonstrated that they can survive without 8(a) contracts. GAO noted that: (1) while the dollar amount of 8(a) contracts awarded competitively during fiscal year (FY) 1995 increased over FY 1994, the percentage of contract dollars awarded competitively remained at about 19 percent; (2) SBA revisions closed a major loophole that allowed the use of indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contracts to avoid competition; (3) although SBA made several efforts to more widely distribute 8(a) contracts, the concentration of 8(a) program dollars to relatively few firms continued in FY 1995; (4) during FY 1995, a larger percentage of 8(a) firms in their final year of the program achieved the required level of non-8(a) business than was reported for previous years; (5) during FY 1995, SBA graduated 3 firms from the 8(a) program, the first graduations in the program's history, and terminated another 160 firms for various reasons, and 250 firms left the program; (6) during FY 1995, SBA approved 885 8(a) applications; and (7) SBA provided management and technical assistance to 8(a) firms through its 7(j) program. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-T-RCED-96-259/html/GAOREPORTS-T-RCED-96-259.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-T-RCED-96-259/pdf/GAOREPORTS-T-RCED-96-259.pdf GAO/T-RCED-96-259 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-T-RCED-96-259 Testimony GAO/T-RCED-96-259; Small Business: Status of SBA's 8(a) Minority Business Development Program; Minority business assistance Small business assistance Competitive procurement Minority business set-asides Federal procurement Contracting procedures Indefinite quantity contracts Sole source procurement SBA 7(j) Management Assistance Program SBA 8(a) Program SBA Executive Education Program SBA Minority Business Development Program