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President
Issues Executive Order Calling For Government To "Meet Or
Exceed" Five Percent Contract Goal For Women
WASHINGTON -- President Clinton
signed an Executive Order calling on all federal agencies
to take immediate steps that will lead the government to
"meet or exceed" the five percent government
contracting goal that now exists for women-owned small
businesses.
The President's order directs
departments and agencies to develop long-term comprehensive
strategies to expand opportunities for women-owned small
businesses.
"The president's order is
strong and unequivocal about this administration's commitment to
ensuring that women-owned small businesses receive a fair share
of federal contracts," said SBA Administrator Aida Alvarez.
"I am extremely pleased that this order is being issued.
Women-owned businesses are among the fastest growing sectors in
the economy and their contributions to the current economic
expansion are considerable."
The Executive Order directs the
U.S. Small Business Administration to:
-
establish an Office of
Women's Procurement;
-
provide more extensive
training and technical assistance to women-owned small
businesses;
-
develop a single Web site to
provide procurement information to women-owned small
businesses;
-
develop an interactive
database containing information on women-owned small
businesses; and
-
work with state governments
to share information concerning procurement
opportunities.
The National Foundation of Women
Business Owners (NFWBO) estimates that in 1999 there were 9.1
million women-owned small businesses, employing 27.5 million
people and generating over $3.6 trillion in sales and revenues.
In fiscal year 1999, women-owned small businesses secured just
under $4.6 billion in federal contracts, which amounts to 2.5
percent of the nearly $186 billion in U.S. contracts accessible
to small businesses.
"The National Women's
Business Council applauds the president's efforts in increasing
competitive contracting opportunities for women business
owners," said Kay Koplovitz, Chair of the National Women's
Business Council. "This Executive Order provides the
federal agencies with a clear action plan for meeting and
exceeding the statutory five percent women's procurement goal.
As always, we look forward to working closely with the federal
departments and agencies in implementing this important
directive."
The order also requires
departments and agencies to take specific steps such as:
-
designating a senior
acquisition official to identify and promote contracting
opportunities for women-owned small businesses;
-
requiring contracting
officers, to the maximum extent practicable, to include
women-owned small businesses in competitive
acquisitions;
-
implementing mentor-protégée
programs to include women-owned firms;
-
offering industry-wide as
well as industry specific outreach, training, and technical
assistance programs for women-owned small businesses;
and
-
requiring agencies that fail
to meet their goals to establish an action plan to increase
participation in the future.
Additional information about SBA
programs and services is available at SBA's Web site: http://www.sba.gov.
Or call the SBA Answer Desk at 1-800-U-ASK-SBA.
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