|
AGC Contractor Testifies Before House Committee
Offers Recommendations to Improve Small Business Programs
Christina Schneider, CFO of Purcell Construction Corp., and an AGC member, testified today at a hearing on Capitol Hill before the Committee on Small Business, Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform and Oversight on recommend changes for this year’s reauthorization of the Small Business Act.
Schneider discussed the importance of changes to the HUB Zone program which stimulates economic development and creates jobs by providing Federal contracting preferences to small businesses. Schneider also discussed the impact of contract bundling a process by which small contracts are being bundled to result in large dollar solicitations that small businesses are not able to compete for unless they partner with large firms. Finally, she addressed the growing concern over large construction contract awards to Alaska Native Corporations (ANC) and detailed AGC’s concerns about the growing reliance on the use of ANC by the Federal agencies as a means to easily attain small business contracting goals.
She noted that contract bundling, combined with pressure on agencies to meet their small business utilization goals, leaves her firm and others with no opportunity to grow their business beyond a ‘graduate’ level.
AGC offered suggestions designed to improve the effectiveness of the HUB Zone program, called on Congress to examine the impact of contract bundling on the construction industry and urged Congress to follow up on the forthcoming GAO report on ANCs.
AGC looks forward to working with the committee on balancing the needs of the federal government’s procurement system and creating an environment in which construction contractors can continue to work to improve the quality of federal construction delivered to the owner – the Federal government and ultimately the American taxpayer.
[
return to top ]
|
