Improvements Needed to Help Ensure Reliability of SBA's Performance Data on Procurement Center Representatives
Highlights
This letter responds to the mandate contained in Section 1312(c) of the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010, for GAO to conduct a study of the Small Business Administration's (SBA) Procurement Center Representatives (PCR) and Commercial Market Representatives (CMR), including ways to improve their effectiveness. To fulfill this mandate, we provided congressional staff a briefing on the results of this work in meetings with them on March 22, 23, and 24, 2011. Each year, the federal government awards hundreds of billions of dollars in contracts for goods and services--more than $500 billion in fiscal year 2010 alone. It uses this buying power to maximize procurement opportunities for small businesses through long-standing policies such as set-asides and requiring large contractors to set goals for using small business subcontractors. SBA's PCRs and CMRs play an important role in helping ensure that small businesses gain access to contracting and subcontracting opportunities. In particular, a PCR's key responsibilities include reviewing proposed agency contract events--such as potentially bundled or consolidated contracts--and making set-aside recommendations to agency contracting officers (through informal and formal means), reviewing agency small business programs (surveillance reviews), and counseling small businesses. In addition, PCRs can appeal a contracting officer's rejection of their formal set-aside recommendation. PCRs also review the proposed subcontracting plans of large prime contractors and provide advice and recommendations on them to contracting officers. A CMR's key responsibilities include counseling small businesses on obtaining subcontracts and performing "matchmaking" activities to link large prime contractors with small businesses. CMRs also conduct reviews of large prime contractors with subcontracting plans, including Subcontracting Orientation and Assistance Reviews, performance reviews, and compliance reviews. We and SBA's Office of the Inspector General (OIG) previously reported on resource constraints that limited the ability of PCRs and CMRs to effectively perform their functions. In May 2005, SBA's OIG reported that SBA had not reviewed the majority of potentially bundled contracts reported by procurement agencies because of limited staff and a weak tracking system. In September 2007, the SBA OIG reported that CMRs monitored less than half of the 2,200 large prime contractors in fiscal year 2006. In November 2008, we reported that years of SBA downsizing and budget reductions reduced staff resources and resulted in most PCRs covering multiple agencies and "buying activities" within agencies. We also reported that CMRs with whom we spoke had large portfolios (ranging from approximately 90 to 200 prime contractors), which diminished their ability to monitor prime contractors through compliance reviews. We recommended that SBA assess the resources allocated to PCRs and CMRs and develop a plan to better ensure that these staff could carry out their responsibilities. SBA agreed with this recommendation and stated it was assessing statutory requirements and resources for PCRs and CMRs to develop such a plan. In September 2010, SBA contracted with a consulting firm to conduct a study to define the optimal environment in which a PCR's efforts would have the maximum impact on directing contracts to qualified and capable small businesses. As of the date of this letter, SBA officials told us that they were reviewing the study results. In accordance with the mandate and discussions with committee offices, we identified (1) measures SBA uses to determine the effectiveness of PCRs and CMRs in carrying out their responsibilities; (2) key challenges PCRs and CMRs cited related to carrying out their responsibilities; and (3) options PCRs, CMRs, and other key stakeholders cite to increase the effectiveness of PCRs and CMRs, including advantages and disadvantages.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Office of Government Contracting | To help ensure that Government Contracting Area Report (GCAR) data are accurate and that SBA reliably can use the data to monitor PCR and CMR performance and determine whether established goals have been achieved, the SBA's Director of Government Contracting should provide clear and complete guidance to PCRs and CMRs on accurately recording and maintaining the appropriate backup documentation for accomplishments reported in the Government Contracting Area Report (GCAR) monthly report. |
Closed – Implemented
In October 2013, SBA issued guidance that included instructions that the Procurement Center Representative (PCR) should follow to complete the Government Contracting Activity Report (GCAR). This guidance emphasized the need for the PCR to (1) include narrative statements that detail the circumstance and outcomes of numbers reported in the GCAR and (2) retain documentation that demonstrates how the PCR helped to influence contract actions.
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| Office of Government Contracting | To help ensure that GCAR data are accurate and that SBA reliably can use the data to monitor PCR and CMR performance and determine whether established goals have been achieved, the SBA's Director of Government Contracting should require that monthly GCAR data are verified and that documentation for PCR and CMR records are periodically reviewed for quality and completeness. |
Closed – Implemented
In June 2016, SBA reestablished the position of Supervisory Area Office Business Specialist. The specialist's responsibilities include, among other things, ensuring that the GCAR and all other required area office reports are submitted correctly and in a timely manner.
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