FSSI Small Business Participation Percentages are Deceptive

The Federal Strategic Sourcing Initiative (FSSI) should be on every small business federal contractor's list of issues to quickly be educated upon. The FSSI has been identified as a procurement vehicle which it is expected will be applied to over 90% of all Federal Government Spending. In a nutshell, FSSI awards contracts to a select few while leaving the vast majority at-risk of losing government business. For example, in the FSSI for GSA Schedule 75-Office Supplies, there were only 15 FSSI BPAs awarded from among 550+ contractors who were Schedule holders. In the past 3 years since inception, the non-winners have lost nearly 66% of sales, while the "percentage" of small business sales going to the "winners" has climbed dramatically in these 3 years. GSA has claimed that small business sales are up by 76%, but that only applies to the "winners", while the remaining 515+ "non-winners" are losers. The problem with the use of "percentages" is that the "number" of small businesses who were negatively impacted by the FSSI,. far exceeds the number of "winners".

In effect, the FSSI has made a few (15) "winners" who carry the vast majority of government sales, while the (515+) "non-winners" are either struggling to survive, failing and closing their doors, and laying-off their employees. This is having a significantly negative impact on small businesses and the U.S. Economy at a time when jobs are critical for economic recovery.