News Releases
GSA Goes on Ten-City Tour to Reach Small, Minority-Owned, and Women-Owned BusinessesBriefings to Provide Specific Training on Contracting Opportunities with the GovernmentGSA #9523 October 15, 1998
Dietra Ford, Associate Administrator for Enterprise Development, made the announcement at the University of Maryland during the Women's Economic Summit '98, where 500 women business owners, members of women's business organizations, and leaders from the public, private, and academic sectors gathered to foster women's business enterprises. "The Office of Enterprise Development is committed to helping GSA meet and exceed the President's mandate to award 5% of the government's contract dollars to women entrepreneurs," Ford said. The role of the office is to increase the participation of small, minority-, and women-owned businesses in Federal procurement. The Ten-City Tour continues GSA's aggressive outreach to get more firms owned by women and minorities on GSA schedules. Briefings will provide specialized training on how to prepare a successful offer for a schedules contract. They will also give potential contractors opportunities to interact with procurement officials from Federal agencies that use GSA schedules contracts. GSA's procurements with women-owned businesses increased from $97 million in 1992 to $352 million as of August 1998. Seventy-seven percent of the 7,000 schedules contracts are held by small businesses. Eight percent of current schedules contracts are held by women-owned businesses, and 5% are held by minority-owned and small, disadvantaged businesses. "These numbers are a result of the Clinton Administration clearing the decks for small businesses to do business with the government," said Ford. "This Administration's commitment to small and minority- and women-owned businesses has led to many initiatives that really benefit America's 8 million women business owners." The first stop on GSA's Ten-City Tour will be Kansas City, MO, on November 10, 1998. For dates of briefings in the following cities, check GSA's Office of Enterprise Development Web site at http://www.gsa.gov/oed. Boston, MA
Last Reviewed 8/23/2005
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