BALTIMORE – On Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023, U.S. Small Business Administrator Isabel Guzman traveled to Maryland to highlight federal contracting opportunities for minority entrepreneurs at the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC) Annual Conference and Exchange in Baltimore and promote federal contracting among women small business owners at a ChallengeHER event.
At the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC) conference, hailed as the largest minority business conference in the world, Administrator Guzman delivered keynote remarks on how the Biden-Harris Administration is committed to expanding federal contracting opportunities. She discussed the Administration's goal of increasing by 50% the amount of federal contracting dollars going to small disadvantaged businesses by 2025—which would translate to an additional $100 billion to minority-owned and other underserved businesses and help more Americans realize their entrepreneurial dreams.
At ChallengerHER, an ongoing initiative to encourage women-owned small businesses to enter and compete in the federal marketplace, Administrator Guzman participated in a fireside chat with Angela Dingle, the Acting President, and the CEO of Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP), where they discussed the SBA’s efforts to promote women-owned small businesses in federal contracting. Administrator Guzman was also joined by representatives from the Department of Education to announce the launch of a new Multiple Award Contract for women-owned small businesses as part of the SBA’s goal of awarding 5% of prime contracts across the federal government to women-owned small businesses. The CANDACE Award is named in honor of the late WIPP President and CEO Candace Waterman, a fierce advocate for women entrepreneurs.
The nation has experienced a small business boom under the Biden-Harris Administration, with 14 million new small business applications since President Biden took office – a trend largely led by women and people of color nationally. The Biden-Harris Administration has made significant progress in increasing small business participation in government contracting, exceeding its prime contracting goal of 23% in fiscal year (FY) 2022 and awarding an all-time high of 26.5% of prime federal contracting dollars to small businesses. Total prime federal contracting dollars going to women-owned small businesses increased from $26.2 billion in FY21 to $28.1 billion in FY22. In FY22, the federal government exceeded its 11% goal for Small Disadvantaged Businesses (SDBs), with 11.38% of prime federal contracts going to SDBs for a total of $69.9 billion, both up from FY21. Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) small businesses received a record-breaking $16.3 billion in federal contract awards, marking the highest amount ever awarded to this category in the program’s history.
For follow-up interview requests for Administrator Guzman, please contact Rebecca Galanti at rebecca.galanti@sba.gov.
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About the U.S. Small Business Administration
The U.S. Small Business Administration helps power the American dream of business ownership. As the only go-to resource and voice for small businesses backed by the strength of the federal government, the SBA empowers entrepreneurs and small business owners with the resources and support they need to start, grow, expand their businesses, or recover from a declared disaster. It delivers services through an extensive network of SBA field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations. To learn more, visit www.sba.gov.