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RCED-93-159R 1 (1993-06-07)

handle is hein.gao/gaobackiu0001 and id is 1 raw text is: 144'to I GAO United States General Accounting Office Washington, D.C. 20548 Resources, Community, and Economic Development Division B-250270 June 7, 1993 rA -- o 00- >.P, 149509 The Honorable Marcy Kaptur House of Representatives Dear Ms. Kaptur: Each fiscal year, the Small Business Administration (SBA) negotiates with federal agencies to establish contracting goals for women-owned businesses. The contracting goals are nonbinding targets expressed as a percentage of each agency's total estimated procurement dollars for the fiscal year. In a July 1992 report and more recently in September 1992 testimony' before the House Committee on Small Business, we discussed the establishment of these goals and the recent experiences of federal agencies in achieving them. During the hearing, you expressed concern about the adequacy of federal agencies' efforts to achieve these contracting goals. In subsequent discussions with your office, we agreed to provide you with information on (1) how many of the 18 major federal procuring agencies--including the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), a government-owned corporation--have women-in-business specialists to assist women business owners obtain federal contracts; (2) whether agencies with women-in-business specialists are more successful than agencies without such specialists in increasing the percent of contract dollars awarded to women- owned businesses; and (3) what procedures federal agencies generally follow to solicit contract bids, and whether these procedures ensure that women business owners are aware that such contracts are available. In summary, we found the following: 'Small Business: Efforts to Provide Federal Procurement Dollars to Women-Owned Businesses (GAO/RCED-92-185, July 28, 1992) and Small Business: Federal Agencies' Contracting Goals for Women-Owned Businesses (GAO/T-RCED-92-95, Sept. 17, 1992). GAO/RCED-93-159R, Women-Owned Businesses