The Effect Of Federal Contract Bundling On Small Business

Excerpt from The Effect of Federal Contract Bundling on Small Business: Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Procurement, Taxation, and Tourism of the Committee on Small Business, House of Representatives, One Hundred Third Congress, First Session; Washington, D. C., June 13, 1993 Today, the subcommittee continues to investigate the contract bundling practice Of the Federal Government and the damage that it is causing to the small business contracting community. The sub committee was particularly disappointed that the report which was presented by the sba was severely lacking in tangible facts to the bundling problem. Unfortunately, its main conclusion was that {nore study was needed in order to determine the scope of the prob em. This subcommittee not only has long accepted the fact that there is a problem, but it believes action, not further study, is warranted. To this end, the subcommittee has taken a number of initiatives. Today, for those who choose to question the validity for the exist ence of bundling problems, we will receive testimony from a number of small business people who will provide us with details and the reality of how this practice is affecting small businesses. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

This report discusses the increasingly common practice of contract bundling, which is accelerating the concentration of larger & fewer federal contracts into the hands of larger & fewer companies. As this happens, the small business share of federal dollars is stagnating well below established agency small business contracting goals. Small businesses, unable to compete for larger contracts, are leaving the federal marketplace in increasing numbers. The diminishing diversity of the federal industrial base that contract bundling is fueling will have long term & detrimental consequences to the government's ability to procure needed services & supplies at competitive prices. Charts & tables.