Circular Letter No. 629

November 8, 2006

TO: Printing and Publishing Officials of the Federal Government

SUBJECT: Proper Classification of the Government Printing Office (GPO) when Reporting Small Business Transactions

This circular letter is to remind Federal Departments, Agencies, and Commissions of the importance of accurately classifying GPO when recording information which will be used to report small business dealings.

There have been instances when incorrect coding has led to GPO being misidentified as a small business. The Congress annually reviews the federal marketplace. As a result of that review we have been asked to contact our customer agencies and request that GPO not be classified as a small business.

GPO is a major supporter of small businesses through its Printing Procurement Program, through which we annually purchase between $400 million and $500 million of information products and services from private sector printing firms. The printing industry is dominated by small businesses, and in fact the vast majority of firms we do business with are classified as such. However, transactions between GPO and our customer agencies are intergovernmental; therefore, please do not classify GPO as a small business.

Please forward this notice to colleagues at your Department, Agency, or Commission who work in the areas which may deal with the coding of small business transactions.  If you have any questions about the information contained in this Circular Letter, please contact Chris Sweterlitsch, Senior Agency Publishing Specialist on 202-512-0310.

Sincerely,

JIM BRADLEY
Managing Director, Customer Services