Photo of Amy Laderberg O'SullivanPhoto of Olivia LynchPhoto of Issac Schabes

On December 2, 2021, the White House released a Fact Sheet, announcing a number of significant reforms intended to increase federal procurement opportunities for small disadvantaged businesses (SDBs), including but not limited to:

  • directing agencies to more than double their annual SDB contracting goals for FY2022 to result in 11% of contracting dollars being awarded to SDBs (up from the current statutory goal of 5%) with the long-term goal of increasing SDB participation to 15% of federal contracts by 2025;
  • increasing transparency through releasing on an annual basis, starting this year, disaggregated data of federal procurement spending by race and ethnicity of business owner;
  • issuing revised guidance on the use of “category management” in order to decentralize federal contracting in a manner that boosts contracting opportunities for small businesses;
  • tasking agencies with developing innovative strategies for increasing the number of new SDB entrants to the Federal marketplace; and
  • adopting management practices intended to hold agency acquisition executives accountable for achieving small business contracting goals.

The White House further announced that over the course of 2022, it intends to provide updated procurement goals for other “socioeconomic” categories of small businesses, including women-owned small businesses, service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses, and HUBZone businesses. SBA Administrator Guzman also released a statement, emphasizing that these critical reforms are needed “to widen the door for opportunity so that all federal agencies can take full advantage of the talents and ideas in every corner of the contracting community.”

The Fact Sheet demonstrates the attention that the Administration is giving to increasing federal procurement opportunities for socially disadvantaged small businesses. Crowell & Moring will continue to monitor the developments in this area and our team is available to help companies better understand these emerging opportunities.

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Photo of Amy Laderberg O'Sullivan Amy Laderberg O'Sullivan

Amy Laderberg O’Sullivan is a partner in the firm’s Washington, D.C. office, a member of the Steering Committee for the firm’s Government Contracts Group, and former chair of the firm’s Diversity Council. Her practice involves a mix of litigation, transactional work, investigations, and

Amy Laderberg O’Sullivan is a partner in the firm’s Washington, D.C. office, a member of the Steering Committee for the firm’s Government Contracts Group, and former chair of the firm’s Diversity Council. Her practice involves a mix of litigation, transactional work, investigations, and counseling for corporate clients of all sizes and levels of experience as government contractors. On the litigation side, she has represented corporate clients in bid protests (agency level, GAO, ODRA, Court of Federal Claims, Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, as well as state and local bid protests in numerous jurisdictions), size and status protests before the U.S. Small Business Administration, claims litigation before the various Boards of Contract Appeals, Defense Base Act claims litigation at the Administrative Law Judge and Benefits Review Board levels, civil and criminal investigations, and she has been involved in complex commercial litigation.

Photo of Olivia Lynch Olivia Lynch

Olivia L. Lynch is a partner in Crowell & Moring’s Government Contracts Group in the Washington, D.C. office.

General Government Contracts Counseling. Olivia advises government contractors on navigating the procurement process, compliance and ethics, commercial item contracting, accessibility, supply chain assurance, and…

Olivia L. Lynch is a partner in Crowell & Moring’s Government Contracts Group in the Washington, D.C. office.

General Government Contracts Counseling. Olivia advises government contractors on navigating the procurement process, compliance and ethics, commercial item contracting, accessibility, supply chain assurance, and various aspects of state and local procurement law.

Photo of Issac Schabes Issac Schabes

Issac D. Schabes is an associate in the firm’s Washington, D.C. office, where he is a member of the Government Contracts Group.

Prior to joining the firm, Issac clerked for the Honorable Matthew H. Solomson on the U.S. Court of Federal Claims and…

Issac D. Schabes is an associate in the firm’s Washington, D.C. office, where he is a member of the Government Contracts Group.

Prior to joining the firm, Issac clerked for the Honorable Matthew H. Solomson on the U.S. Court of Federal Claims and the Honorable Robert N. McDonald on the Maryland Court of Appeals. Issac received his J.D., magna cum laude, from the University of Maryland Carey School of Law, where he graduated Order of the Coif and served as an executive editor for the Maryland Law Review. He received numerous awards, including the Judge Simon E. Sobeloff Prize for Excellence in Constitutional Law. During law school, Issac was a member of a low-income taxpayer clinic team that successfully appealed an IRS assessment resulting in a substantial tax liability reduction, and also interned for the Honorable Beryl A. Howell, Chief Judge, on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and the Honorable Marvin J. Garbis on the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.