Contracting Opportunities

Now let's get a better picture of where the government spends its money.

Fiscal Year 2007 (10/1/06-9/30/07) Total Federal Actions and Contract Dollars
Agency	Actions	Dollars
DoD	1,889,101	$269,312,039,976
Civilian	4,786,794	$109,193,661,513
Total	6,675,895	$378,505,701,489

As you can see, there are two basic areas in which the government spends its contract dollars: the Department of Defense (DoD) and civilian agencies, such as the Department of Veteran Affairs and Department of Justice. Based on the numbers, it looks like DoD is the biggest opportunity, but remember that many of the dollars went toward major systems and thus to larger companies.

Next, let's look at what small businesses have done for the same period.

2007 Small Business Dollars by Type
Small Business Type	Percent	Dollars	Actions
Certified HUBZone Small Business	2.22%	$5,977,808,192	57,682
Women Owned Small Business	2.87%	$7,725,076,037	191,280
Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business	0.69%	$1,860,328,366	29,425
Veteran Owned Small Business	2.41%	$6,479,372,855	125,004
8(a) Procedure	2.39%	$6,427,087,570	37,482
Small Disadvantaged Business	5.75%	$15,483,505,702	143,048
Small Business	20.44%	$55,047,154,697	1,018,847
Total Small Business Eligible		$269,312,039,976	1,889,101

As this data shows, small businesses, overall, did very well at over $269 billion. It also shows that businesses that can be classified as small disadvantaged businesses (SDB) or women's business enterprises (WBE) have a lot of room to grow.

And how many small businesses were new to the game? In fiscal 2007, a total of 11,446 small businesses received their first federal contract with the government. These businesses were either women-owned or disadvantaged-owned, and were split almost 65/35 between female and male ownership.

Who Are the Government's Big Spenders?

Here's the top ten government agencies looking for contractors in fiscal year 2008.

Top Ten Federal Agencies
Agency	Contract Dollars
Department of Defense	$401 billion
Department of Energy	$24.8 billion
General Services Administration	$18.1 billion
NASA	$16.7 billion
Department of Homeland Security	$15.8 billion
Department of Veteran Affairs	$15.3 billion
Department of State	$6.3 billion
Department of Agriculture	$5.8 billion
Department of Justice	$5.8 billion
Department of Transportation	$4.7 billion
Top Ten Totals	$514.3 billion

Work Smart Another useful web site for information on government contracting is Win Government Contracts. This site can help you to navigate some of the government's databases or to find a PTAC counselor near you.