The Commerce Department reports revealed that opportunities for women-owned businesses to win federal contracts in the US are almost 21% lower than other similar companies. Despite the efforts to improve the conditions for businesswomen in the world's most developed country, the desired outcome is barely visible.
The US government is the largest buyer of products and services in the world. By law, the federal agencies are supposed to set aside 23% of the contracts for small businesses, as per Government Bids. From the 23%, 5% are meant to boost the businesses owned by women in the US, which so far hasn't been met by the government.
The opportunities reached its peak at 4.7% (still not the desired 5%) in 2014, an improvement from the 4% increase recorded in 2015. Still this tiny progress came about only after Small Company Administration program was set up to boost these establishments. The changes, implemented by the 2014 law, now make these businesses eligible for no-bid contracts so that the experience can come in use to win other competitive projects. However, to be eligible for this program, a company's 51% stake has to be held by one woman or more.
Senator Jeanne Shaheen, Democrat of New Hampshire, was deeply disappointed when the 2014 law, which was sponsored by her, did not immediately yield the desired results. According to The New York Times, she said, "These are sobering statistics that show a real, unfair disadvantage for women entrepreneurs." but added that, "We've made good progress with the recent expansion of the women-owned small business contracting program, but this data clearly shows that this program should be expanded to more industries."
News Archives USA represented that the women-possessed companies are usually "smaller and more youthful than other companies," which nonetheless accounts "for only area of the disparity in the probability of winning contracts. Even when controlling for firm qualities, including firm size and age, women-possessed companies are less inclined to win contracts than otherwise similar companies not possessed by women."
Senator Shaheen also highlighted her own experience while addressing this issue. "I think what my experience shows is that if the sole-source option is available for women-owned firms, it's going to change the odds," she reportedly quoted. That option "allowed us to get our foot in the door and show what we can do compared to the big boys." She also believes that the new law empowering women with solo-source contracts should provide "an opportunity to get that experience and get ready to compete" and bid for the more competitive and larger federal contracts.
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