Small Business Goals By the Numbers

Federal small business procurement goals are set by Congress , which state that the Federal government shall direct a percentage of spending dollars to small business, and certain categories of small businesses. Congress first enacted a procurement goal in prime contracting for small business in 1988. Since then, goals have been increased, extended to include some subcontracting, and applied to certain sectors of small businesses such as socially and economically disadvantaged small business , service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses , woman-owned small businesses , and Historically Underutilized Business Zones . (See Federal Small Business Goaling Guidelines )

The U.S. Department of State is proud of our strong track record in meeting our Small Business Goals and achieving a grade of “A” or higher every year since FY2010. Published scorecards are available here .