Women's Small Biz Contracting Program Readies for Launch

The women’s small business contracting program should be ready to launch by the end of this year, Small Business Administration chief Karen Mills told the House Small Business Committee last week.

The SBA in March released a proposed rule identifying 83 industries in which women-owned small businesses were underrepresented when it came to winning government contracts.

That finding placated a group of upset lawmakers, women’s advocacy groups and others who were livid when the Bush administration in 2008 released a plan identifying only four such industries.

Last year the SBA decided to draft a new rule and more than 1,000 businesses, trade groups and others offered comments on it through the May deadline.

In 2000, President Clinton signed the Equity in Contracting for Women Act, allowing the government to set aside contracts for women-owned small firms in industries where females were historically underrepresented.