The Federal agencies, try to help communities in many ways, including the states and the localities, increasing their well-being and economic mobility. Federal agencies leverage their convening power, funding, evaluation tools, and other levers to support their community priorities.
Federal Agencies that Support Diverse Communities
Small businesses play a major role in the economy by driving their innovation, fostering economic growth, and creating jobs. In order to support the growth and success of diverse communities, federal agencies in the United States engage in contracting opportunities with small businesses. These Federal agencies recognize the importance of fostering competition and diversity, resulting in program development and initiatives that target small business owners. Federal agencies support small communities by establishing small business contracts with different segments of society. Some of these top federal agencies are as follows,
Small Business Administration
Being a federal agency, SBA empowers small business owners and entrepreneurs and offers them a number of programs such as,
- 8(a) Business Development Program
- HUBZone Program
- Women-Owned Small Business Federal Contracting Program
All these initiatives provide small businesses with the best ways to access government contracts. They also give them the required support and technical assistance in obtaining federal procurement opportunities.
Contracting opportunities from the Department of Defense
The Department of Defense is the largest federal agency that offers exceptional and substantial contracting opportunities for small businesses. It aims to render a significant portion of its contracts to small businesses through its various initiatives, such as the Small Business Innovation Research Program, Mentor-Protege Program, etc. It also has a goal of wading 5% of its prime contracts to businesses that women own.
General Services Administration
Being a premier procurement agency of the federal government, GSA helps small businesses with access to government contracts through a number of avenues, such as the GSA Schedules Program. It helps small businesses to sell their products and services to federal agencies.
Department of Energy
The DoE is committed to improving its engagement with small businesses. It offers a number of support mechanisms, including the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs. These programs help small businesses in the domain of energy-related research and development with the required funds.
The Department of Health and Human Services
The Department of Health and Human Services offers significant contracting opportunities for small businesses in the fields of public health, healthcare, and biomedicine. This agency promotes the participation of Small and Disadvantaged Businesses and fosters their participation in HHS contracts. It also offers the required resources to help small businesses navigate the entire business procurement process.
How Does Small Business Contracting Help People From Diverse Communities and the Government at Large?
According to recent statistics, there are more than 32.5 million small businesses in the United States that employ about 46.8% of the US employees. Small businesses comprise more than 99.9% of all the businesses in the country, and it is seen as the backbone of the US economy. These businesses represent friends, families, and livelihoods. These federal agencies are indirectly serving people from diverse domains by offering the required resources that foster small businesses to grow and thrive. It also supports businesses through loans, grants, business education, and by securing business contracting opportunities. It has also been committed to increasing government spending towards small disadvantaged businesses by over 50% in the next five years.
Federal agencies recognize the importance of small businesses and serve people from diverse communities through their contracting opportunities. The agency offers specialized initiatives and programs to level the playing field