SBA now will give grades, not colors

SBA has revised its annual Small Business Procurement Scorecard format to help clarify grades.

Under the new scorecard, an agency’s overall grade will be comprised of three quantitative measures: prime contracts going to small businesses, which will make up 80 percent of the grade; subcontracts, which will equal 10 percent; and the agency’s progress plan for meeting goals, at 10 percent.

Agencies may have to relive their school days because the Small Business Administration will hand out grades later this year.

SBA officials are revising their format for the annual Small Business Procurement Scorecard. The scores will be based on an A through F grading system, instead of the red, yellow, green ratings the George W. Bush administration used, SBA officials announced today.

See a template of the new scorecard.

Officials say the new format will clarify their assessments of the government’s performance in meeting its small business contracting goals.

“The revision builds on our ongoing efforts to strengthen the integrity of the overall process,” SBA Administrator Karen Mills said in a statement.


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The letter grades for prime contracting and subcontracting will show an A+ for agencies that meet or exceed 120 percent of their goals, an A for those between 100 percent and 119 percent, a B for 90 to 99 percent, a C for 80 to 89 percent, a D for 70 to 79 percent and an F for less than 70 percent.

The revisions will appear when SBA issues its report later this year for federal contracting.