SERVICE 2: ONLINE TRACKING – SMALL BUSINESS CONTRACTING PROGRAM CERTIFICATION

Establish online tracking of small businesses' applications.

Other Information:

Overview: Applying for and being approved into SBA’s small business contracting certification programs – 8(a) and HUBZone may seem an overwhelming task to a small business juggling multiple priorities. Establishing online tracking of a small businesses application will improve customer satisfaction and free up valuable labor hours by government employees to process applications. Key Customer Groups: Disadvantaged small businesses seeking access to business development programs and greater access to federal contracts. Challenges: Establishing online tracking requires re-engineering current application review processes and poses security risks due to the necessity of protecting PII. Featured Action: SBA is in the process of developing a new system to improve the 8(a) and HUBZone application process and plans to launch a test pilot of the online tracking system before the end of fiscal year 2012. Additional Information: * SBA receives approximately 3,000 applications each year for the 8(a) business development program and graduates an average of 500 firms from the 8(a) program each year. * In the last fiscal year, 8(a) firms received just under $18.5 billion in federal contracts. * SBA receives on average 3,550 applications each year for the HUBZone program. * In the last fiscal year, HUBZone firms received just shy of $12 billion in federal contracts. The 8(a) Business Development and HUBZone programs provide opportunities for small businesses to compete for and win federal contracts. By law, 23% of all federal contract dollars are required to go to small businesses. A record, nearly $100 billion were awarded to small businesses in FY 2010, which is 22.7 percent of government contracting dollars. This increase marks the largest two-year increase in over a decade. For the second consecutive year, federal prime contracting dollars to small businesses have increased after 3 years of decline. SBA has made tremendous strides in re-engineering the certification process and cutting down the time between receipt of a small businesses application and determination of eligibility for/acceptance into these programs. This decrease represents a significant customer service improvement on the part of our Office of Government Contracting and Business Development. The next evolution in continuing to improve this process is to allow business owners with applications pending to view the status of their application in a secure environment online at www.sba.gov.

Stakeholder(s):

• Disadvantaged Small Businesses: Disadvantaged small businesses seeking access to business development programs and greater access to federal contracts.

Objective(s):

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