Small Business Finance News
Women Owned Contract Rule Welcome, Yet Faces Issues
Written by Jenna Weiner
Published: 2/7/2011
SBA rule aims to increase number of federal contracts awarded to women-owned firms. However, the agency is facing pressure from Congress to cut its budget.
In October, the U.S. Small Business Administration introduced a new rule setting aside a portion of federal government contracts for women-owned businesses in 83 industries. Since then, organizations have held numerous workshops and symposiums to help this demographic understand this promising news for small businesses.
The program has been welcomed warmly, seeing as it took more than 15 years and a lawsuit to get off the ground, the Washington Post writes. With this new program, the federal government hopes to finally meet its goal of allocating 5 percent of contracting dollars to women-owned small businesses.
However, that doesn't mean that change will happen immediately or will encompass all ventures.
"There are still quite a few women-owned businesses that have been left out," Margot Dorfman, chief executive of the U.S. Women's Chamber of Commerce, told the paper. "Any opportunities that women have to access contracts is a good thing ... but this [program] has a ways to go."
The program was officially launched on February 4, 2011, and will award the first contracts by the fourth quarter.
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