Government contracting is big business -- not only for the industrial behemoths like Boeing and Lockheed Martin, but also for thousands of small business owners located across the US. Yet, in recent years, it has become more difficult for many small firms to break into the government marketplace. A new report from the Center for American Progress, a progressive think tank, contends that cronyism and corruption have played a big role in these trends. Last week, the Center held a conference and released several reports on this topic. The Center’s report notes that federal contract dollars grew by 86% between 2000 and 2005 (reaching $377 billion). The scale of non-competitive contracts doubled over that same period. The report recommends closer oversight of the contracting process as well as hiring of additional contract personnel to better monitor contractor performance.
Learn more about the Center for American Progress initiative on competitive contracting and read the May 2007 report, A Return to Competitive Contracting, by Scott Lilly. © 2007 The Public Forum Institute
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