Senators blast rule for woman-owned businesses

Six senators have criticized a rule recently proposed by the Small Business Administration’s that would limit set-aside contracts for woman-owned small businesses to four industries.

In a letter sent Feb. 1, the senators said SBA fashioned the rule by selectively reading a recent study that measured if and where women business owners are underrepresented in federal contracting.

The rule would determine that woman-owned businesses are underrepresented in national security, engraving and kitchen cabinet manufacturing and as motor vehicle dealers.

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SBA rule aims to protect employee e-mail

Managers at the Small Business Administration now must have several levels of approval before accessing an employee’s e-mail inbox.

On Dec. 21, SBA officials approved the rules regarding when managers can look at SBA employee e-mail messages after a report from the agency’s inspector general showed SBA had no clear policy about accessing e-mail messages without authorization. Now managers must have written authorization from the chief information security officer before looking at e-mail messages, the notice said.

The notice comes after a report from SBA’s inspector general, which was released in October. The IG said managers looked at an employee’s e-mail inbox after that employee gave testimony anonymously.

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Sen. Kerry: SBA must protect whistleblowers

When Small Business Administration officials pried into the e-mail inbox of an employee supplying anonymous testimony to the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee, the committee chairman said the result could have a chilling effect on oversight.

Employees can’t be guaranteed confidentiality when managers arbitrarily look into employee’s e-mail messages, Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) wrote in a letter, which he sent today to SBA Administrator Steve Preston.

The letter is based on a report from SBA’s inspector general that was released in October. The IG found that a manager in the Office of Disaster Assistance retrieved e-mail messages from an employee who was a confidential source for the IG and Kerry’s committee.

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SBA needs money, senators say

Congress gave the Small Business Administration more money in its fiscal 2008 appropriations bill than President Bush requested for the agency, which some senators say is a signal to the president that SBA needs more funding in 2009.

In the omnibus appropriations bill, Congress gave SBA $569 million — $105 million more than the president's request and $40 million more than Congress provided in 2007.

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SBA rule a 'slap in the face' to women, lawmaker says

The Small Business Administration’s attempt to give women who own small businesses better odds of getting a government contract may not help after all, lawmakers say.

On Dec. 27, SBA issued a proposed rule for setting aside contracts for women-owned small businesses. The rule would limit the contract set-asides to four industry areas: national security and international affairs; coating, engraving, heat treating and allied activities; household and institutional furniture and kitchen cabinet manufacturing; and motor vehicle dealers.

Congressional leaders want the rule thrown out.

It “is a slap in the face to women business owners,” said John Kerry (D-Mass.), chairman of the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee.

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SBA: Tech can help small-biz set-aside record

When members of the Senate’s Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee expressed frustration with agencies’ failure to send the required percentage of contracting dollars to small and disadvantaged businesses, a Small Business Administration official said technology can help address the problem.

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Senators unhappy with SBA

Senate committee members expressed frustration with the Small Business Administration for showing little proof of progress toward improving its programs for minority-owned small businesses. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), chairman of the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee, said no one at SBA seemed to be moving to help minority-owned small businesses, a burgeoning segment of the small-business market.

Three recent reports from SBA’s inspector general found that the agency does not track compliance with 8(a) regulations, improperly maintains an 8(a) database, poorly supervises mentor-protégé arrangements between 8(a) firms and larger businesses, and fails to ensure that 8(a) contracts go to more than a handful of participating firms.

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Kerry criticizes SBA over decade-old policies

The Small Business Administration seems asleep when it comes to issues related to minority-owned small businesses, Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) said today.

For example, in a decade, SBA has not updated its net worth threshold for its small-business program that assists businesses with government contract set-asides, said Kerry, chairman of the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee, at a committee hearing.

Things have changed considerably since 1997, he said, and SBA needs to review the dollar amounts.

“Frankly, it seems like it’s almost asleep,” Kerry said about the agency.

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